Kingdom Hearts III: Final Twilight
by gohangeorge
Summary: Experienced original characters team up with Kingdom Hearts characters for an intense journey through light, darkness, and twilight to reach the answer behind all things. Gaiden Chapters Seymour Battles now up. Please R&R!
1. Character Intros

**Kingdom Hearts III: Final Twilight**

The sequel to Kingdom Hearts: Power of the Soul, a more mature KH fanfiction of mine (mostly for blood). It is the story of three teenagers who are thrust into the world of Kingdom Hearts, searching for a way home. They will encounter Disney characters, climactic battles, and eventually uncover the whole truth about Xehanort.

I do not claim to own any of the Disney characters appearing in this story, any parts of Kingdom Hearts, or any of the properties the original characters' appearances, weapons, and fighting styles are based off of. I do claim the original characters.

**Original Character Intros**

-keeping with Kingdom Hearts' art style, the original characters' appearances are based off of video game/manga characters.

Roy Hartmut – the "Red, Brave Spirit"

Age: 18

Eyes: Blue (Train Heartnet from Black Cat but with normal pupils)

Face: Train Heartnet w/o the 'cat' style mouth

Hair: Brown (Fourth Hokage from Naruto)

Clothes:

-Dante's Trench Coat (Dante, Devil May Cry 3). It is somewhat ragged, as it is the same coat he wore in his original journey.

-Black T-shirt

-Blue jeans

-Leather boots

-Black leather fingerless gloves

Weapon(s): 5 Swords

-Sephiroth's Masamune

-Kadaj's Souba

-Cloud's Buster Sword

-Ichigo's Zangetsu

-NEW! Captain Jack Sparrow's Cutlass

Roy also wields a Keyblade, though he rarely uses it.

Abilities:

-Dark Form: when enraged, a mark on Roy's left shoulder spreads darkness across his body, enhancing his speed, strength, and endurance. Depending on how much of his skin turns black, he becomes stronger; his eyes also turn blood red as a result of the transformation. Roy no longer uses this form; he now controls his emotions because in his Dark Form, Roy is sadistic and brutal. The darkness still lurks in his heart, though…

-True Form: Roy's 'true self,' transformed when Roy unwraps his heart from the darkness. In this form, Roy's hair turns white, and his eyes turn yellow. Roy enjoys greatly increased speed, strength, and stamina in the form, and can sustain it for an unknown amount of time. It eclipses Sora's Final Form in terms of strength, and is just below it in terms of speed.

-Blade Fusion: using the powers of darkness, Roy can fuse his blades into more powerful weapons. The Souba and Masamune combine into the Soubasune, a twin-edged Masamune. The Buster Sword and Zangetsu combine into the Dragon Blade, a broadsword with a dragon-motif handle. The Soubasune and Zangetsu combine into Roy's best weapon thus far: the awesome Phoenix Sword. This is a great sword with a phoenix motif handle and a pure Orichalon blade.

With the addition of the Cutlass, Roy may be able to make a more powerful weapon…

-Grand Cross Maneuver: Roy's ultimate move thus far; a four-pronged attack that can kill an unscathed opponent. Because of the speeds and power involved in the attack, Roy must be in his True Form and be wielding the Phoenix Sword to use it.

-Form VII – Vaapad Style: Roy's fighting style is imitated from Mace Windu's (Star Wars) signature style. It suits Roy's personality perfectly; incredibly aggressive, as well as tapping into the darkness and using it as a weapon of light. Roy's True Form transformation allows him to use it to its fullest extent.

Roy Hartmut, the reluctant hero, returns for another journey through darkness. Despite having saved the world from the Order of Light, Roy is the only one who remembers that, and such is an unrecognized hero. Traveling with is friends across the U.S.A. from Washington state to Washington D.C, Roy and his friends defeated the Order of Light, though he was forced to watch the deaths of his closest friends (if he did not accidentally kill them himself). Despite this, after a year of exile in the Realm of Darkness, Roy was able to overcome Charon, Master of the Order of Light, and using the Keyblade he obtained from the Keyblade Graveyard, sealed the Earth's Keyhole, rewinding time to the moment the Heartless invaded.

Roy is a slacker; he is very laid back and does little more than train with his swords, play video games, and go to school. Although Roy is an excellent student, he is totally unsure of his future. He is also a dunce in some regards, but incredibly wise in others. Roy is also shy, but accepting of responsibility. He prefers to let his actions speak for him, and such, is a man of few words.

Amy Riesa

Age: 18

Hair: Brown (Sakura from Naruto)

Eyes: Brown (Temari from Naruto)

Face: Anzu Mazaki from Yu-Gi-Oh!

Clothes: InuYasha's Robe of the Fire Rat

Weapon(s):

-Blue-wrapped Sakabato

-NEW! Red-wrapped Katana

Abilties: Materialization – allows Amy to materialize her drawings at the same size they were on paper.

Amy Riesa, Roy's longest lasting companion on their last journey, is an artist. Her bladework is far more elegant than Roy's, but lacks his strength. It could be considered Form II – Makashi style (Star Wars).

Amy is an artist. She can draw just about anything very well. She is also a decent swordswoman, but lacks the finesse that Roy possesses (though she has had swords longer than Roy, Roy's year-long exile into the Realm of Darkness made him far more skilled). She began to develop unrequited feelings for Roy toward the end of their journey, but was killed by Charon in their first battle. Revived after the time rewind, Amy remembers nothing of their previous journey.

Jason Rashar

Age: 18

Hair: Black (an exact copy of Rock Lee's hair from Naruto)

Eyes: Brown (Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Face: Hikaru from Hikaru no Go

Clothes: an orange version of Link's tunic from the Legend of Zelda series, with white pants and a white, long-sleeved shirt.

Weapon(s): Keyblade

Jason Rashar, the original Keyblade master of Earth, still has a role to play. He is just as much of a slacker as Roy, but has more focus in his life. Jason was accidentally killed by Roy in his Dark Form, but was revived after the time rewind. He has an incredibly negative attitude, whining often (and frequently scorned by Amy). He also speaks with a surfer voice occasionally.

Just how Roy obtained the exact same Keyblade as Jason is one of the deeper mysteries about Roy…

Serenity Sheno

Age: 17

Hair: Dark Brown (Ino from Naruto before she cuts her hair)

Face: Eve from Black Cat

Eyes: Brown (Rinslet from Black Cat)

Serenity, Jason's girlfriend, plays a minor role in the story. Once turned against Roy, he swiftly killed her after transcending into his True Form. Serenity will play a minor role in the story, and will not appear until the end.

_The Story thus Far…_

Time was rewound after Roy's victory, and one year after saving the world from the Order of Light and its Luce (beings with pure hearts and bodies but no souls), Roy, Jason, and Amy will be drawn into another conflict, this time involving far more than their own world…


	2. Prologue: Beginnings of Fate

**Prologue: Beginnings of Fate**

I sighed while staring out the school bus window on the bus ride home. Every day, the same drivel… get up, go to school, go home, go to bed, repeat. I miss the good 'ol days… when I was journeying with my friends on our crusade against the light.  
Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, for those of you who don't know me. I'm Roy Hartmut, the one who saved the world and nobody remembers it? Yeah… kinda sucks. Anyway, after about a year of journeying, I found the strength to save the world from Charon. He wanted to make the world into his 'Sanctuary,' or somethin'.

Nobody remembers it, anyway, because time got rewound to the point where the Heartless invaded Earth, removing all traces of what happened… except my clothes.

Anyway, I got to my bus stop. Last stop, as always. The bus driver said bye as I blazed off of the bus, looking down at my feet. Rushing inside, I grabbed some Pop-Tarts while trying to avoid one of my grandma's insufferable attempts at small talk. I grabbed a coke from the garage, narrowly avoiding a discussion on my future with my mom. My dad was still at work.  
Dashing upstairs, plopping down in my chair, I started playing on the internet. Going to the usual strands of sites, I noticed on the homepage (which I never bother to change) that a large number of disappearances had been filed in the last couple days.  
Weird, I thought to myself. Then I continued on my usual rounds. Nothing unusual happened for a week, other than a growing number of unexplained disappearances.

Lying down to sleep, the unexplained disappearances were starting to bother me. Being the only one who knew about the Heartless' reality, I thought it might be them. And so it was.  
I woke up in a cold sweat. I felt it… they were near. I grabbed my blades, donned my special fighting clothes, and went out into the backyard. There the Heartless were. I slew them all with ease, using my awesome strength and skill.

"Hah! Nothin' to it!" I yelled out to nobody. But then, a bright flash enveloped me and I closed my eyes to stop it from hurting…

_Remember, Roy. You are the one who will close the door to the light._


	3. 1: Twilight Existence

**Chapter One: Twilight Existence**

When the flash faded, I found myself lying down in a bed. Opening my eyes, I saw an orange light washing through the room. I was in a hotel room, presumably in Twilight Town. Sitting up, I noticed someone was already standing by the window.

She had her back turned to me, but I knew who it was. Amy. Getting out of bed, I noticed she was in her old traveling clothes from a year ago… when I defeated Charon. I touched her on the shoulder.

"Aah!" she screamed. "Sorry, Roy. I didn't notice you were up," Amy said, turning around. "You surprised me!"

"Yeah, sorry. What are you lookin' at, anyway?" I asked her.

"Well… it seems we're in Twilight Town," she told me.

"Yeah, so?" I replied. Amy looked at me, confused. "Oh, yeah, everybody else forgot."

"Forgot what?" she asked me.

"Nothing," I said.

"Okay… and another thing. We're wearing weird clothes," she told me. "This robe isn't real."

"Weird stuff happens sometimes, okay? Like how did I get these clothes?" I rhetorically asked her.

"Shut up! I've seen you wearing those clothes around. Like on Halloween," she snapped back.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, let's go have a look around. I wonder how much stuff has changed in a year," I said.

"What do you mean, 'changed in a year?'" she asked back.

"Uh… in a year since Sora was here!" I hurriedly answered. That was a close one… I thought to myself.

"Well, I'm not going out there! I'm scared…" Amy told me.

"Fine. Then I'll just go on my own," I said coldly.

"Wait! I'll go with you…" she submitted.

"Worried about me? I can handle myself, ya know," I said.

"No, I'm afraid you'll do something reckless and get in trouble!" she yelled back at me.

"Hey, I'll be fine. But if you insist…" I muttered, opening the door for her.

We walked down to the lobby, where there was nobody at the front desk. Walking outside, I almost got hit by a kid riding a skateboard. Ignoring him, we continued to walk down the street. We eventually made it to the Station Heights, ignoring the Struggle competition that was going on. I'm too good for such a contest, anyways.

Reaching the Train Station, we were attacked by Luce. Yep, Luce… those creatures I fought on my last journey. They have bodies and hearts, but no souls. They're like shining people, these Luce… but I cut them down with ease while Amy stood far away.

"Roy… what were those?" she asked me.

"Ah, nothing. Let's not worry about 'em. Anyways, let's go see if we can catch a train," I said hastily, running in the train station.

There was the magical train that led to Yen Sid's tower… I bowed, letting Amy go first. But just as I was about to get in, the train doors slammed closed!

"Roy! Hurry!" Amy yelled to me from inside the train.

As the train began to go, I ran after it as fast as my feet could carry me. Blazing across the train tracks, I jumped to grab the handrail on the back just before the train passed through the invisible barrier to Yen Sid's tower. For a moment, everything seemed slo-mo, like I wasn't going to grab the rail.

But in the end, I did! I hung on for dear life as the train passed the invisible barrier…


	4. 2: Truths

**Chapter Two: Truths**

After hanging on to the rail for dear life, the train stopped at Yen Sid's tower. Hanging limply, I pulled myself up on the caboose, then hopped over to the land. Amy walked calmly out of the train a few moments later.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Of course! You didn't expect me to be left behind, did you?" I asked back.

"See, that's the reckless stuff I'm talking about. You don't think. You just act," Amy told me.

"Of course! That's what makes me… well, me!" I told her. "Come on, let's go!"

We walked over to the door, where I spotted Jason Rashar. He was the one who first had the Keyblade… but then… I killed him, even though time rewound and he was brought back. He was wearing his old traveling clothes, as well… an orange tunic like Link's, but with whitepants and a long-sleeved, white shirt.

"Hey, Jason! What's up?" I asked him as we walked up to the doorway.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to get into Yen Sid's tower. Maybe he can tell us about all the weird stuff that's been going on," he said without turning around. Then he turned around to look at us. "Roy! Amy! So you're here, too, eh?"

"Yeah. I guess something happened. Well, let's open this door… together," I said. We all pitched in, and managed to get the door open.

"So, what do you think happened? The Heartless showed up, and then we ended up here, in Twilight Town. It's like Kingdom Hearts or somethin'," I muttered.

"Who knows? At any rate, if Yen Sid's there, maybe he can tell us something about it," Amy replied.

We walked up the confusing stairs, making small talk about how confusing the situation was. It really was difficult to figure out, let alone accept. Some Heartless also got in the way, but before our combined strength, they posed no threat.

Eventually reaching the heights of the tower, I kicked open the door to Yen Sid's room. I've always wanted to kick a door open. There Yen Sid sat with his back to us.

"Hey, old man! We want some answers!" I yelled brashly at him.

"Do not be so hasty, Roy. You must have patience if you are to find your way," Yen Sid answered calmly, turning around as he did so. "One group of travelers cannot possibly find their way across the turmoil that is to come."

"Turmoil that is to come? You mean the world isn't at peace, like Sora was supposed to make it?" Amy asked him.

"Indeed. For reasons I do not know, the Heartless and Nobodies, as well as those Luce, still roam the worlds. Though this is likely because darkness is eternal, I sense some other force at work. You must never let your guard down," he told us. "Find your way, the path laid before you, and you will find the truth."

"What about my Keyblade?" Jason asked him.

"Ah, yes. The Keyblade. You must find your way while sealing the worlds once more. The Heartless, Nobodies, and Luce's presence had undoubtedly altered them, unsealing their keyholes. Now, take this Gummi Ship," he snapped his fingers, and a Falcon model Gummi Ship appeared behind his window, "and find your way to the Radiant Garden. There, you may find your mission."

"Okay. Thanks for a little bit of cryptic info," Amy said sarcastically. We then proceeded to walk out the door, but I, being the guardian, lagged behind them. Before I could get through the doors, they slammed shut in my face.

"What's the deal? What's going on?" I asked.

"I must share with you some words that are for your ears only," Yen Sid told me. "You, Roy, must be careful in your journeying. Especially you."

"Why? What's so special about me?" I asked.

"There is something… different about you. You do not have a fate. Your destiny is yours and yours alone," he told me.

"I don't have a fate? What's that supposed to mean?" I half-yelled.

"Your defiant stance and strong will broke the chains of fate when you failed to die fighting Charon the first time. Undoubtedly, this is what allowed you to defeat him. Your power is like only one other…" he went on.

"Get to the point!" I shouted.

"You are a danger to existence. Your ability to choose your own path may lead to disaster," he told me. "You must be very careful, lest you alter the destinies of all things."

"I do what I want to. That's all there is to it." I said, opening the door and walking out of it.


	5. 3: The Radiant Garden

**Chapter Three: The Radiant Garden**

After boarding our Gummi Ship, I went to the bridge. The ships are a lot larger than they appear in the games. There were the three proper seats. Amy and Jason had already taken the side seats, leaving the Captain's seat open. I took it.

"Well, let's get to it! To the Radiant Garden!" I exclaimed.

"Uh… who do you think you are, barking out orders?" Jason asked me.

"Like you've got a better idea," I retorted. "Now, Number One," I said, referring to Amy, "lay in a course. Full impulse."

"Roy?" she asked.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just had to do that," I said. "Anyway, let's get going." The interface was simple enough, so I punched in the coordinates. The ship whirred into motion, moving at full speed toward the Radiant Garden.

We got to the Radiant Garden soon enough. I had just brushed my teeth when the ship stopped (yes, it is a fully-operational Gummi Ship). We beamed down to the Borough.

It was a lot different. The town wasn't in a shambles at all. Everything was rebuilt, and there were flashes of light raining from the sky… not unlike when Tron made it look like it did when it was first built.

"Wow, this really is a radiant garden. It's like a haven," Amy commented.

We walked around the rebuilt town, greeting the inhabitants that we came across. This town was very peaceful, and I felt a bit out of place carrying around five blades.

Reaching the bailey, which was now in pristine condition, we walked down the stairs and came face to face with a rebuilt castle. It was in tip-top shape. I opened the slightly creaky, golden gate. We walked through it to the castle itself.

"Whoa! What a cool-lookin' castle!" I exclaimed. We walked forward to the inner door, beyond the courtyard, where the door swung open and we were greeted by Yuffie's smiling face.

"Welcome to the Radiant Garden Castle! How can I help you?" she asked before opening her eyes. "Oh, you're new here. What can I do for you?"

"Uh… we just kinda popped in recently. I need to know of any trouble going on," I told her.

"No trouble with Heartless in two months! Can you believe it?" she said.

"Proud of it, huh? Well, I guess it is an accomplishment…" Amy began.

"Yeah! Well, come on in. I guess I could get Squall for you," she said, ushering us into the castle foyer. It was huge, with a fresco ceiling. There were several plush chairs seated around a fireplace, which Yuffie motioned us to sit down in while she went to get Squall.

We sat down in the chairs, which made loud noises as air rushed out of them. I was careful to take off my Masamune and Souba, so they didn't poke into the chairs and make it impossible to sit down in.

"So, what do we do now? We're here, in Radiant Garden, with no knowledge of what we're supposed to do," Amy told us.

"We'll find our way," Jason reassured her.

"Yeah, of course we will. Just give it a little time," I said.

Soon enough, Squall came into the foyer from one of the side corridors.


	6. 4: Computer of Wisdom

**Chapter Four: Computer of Wisdom**

"So, what brings you three to this castle?" Squall asked us as he walked into the room. We got out of the plush chairs and turned around to face him. Squall had reclaimed his old name (I think…) and Rinoa wasn't far behind him.

"Well… we're not sure, exactly. We're searching for what we're supposed to do," I told him. Then I went on to explain all that had happened up to this point (except my previous journey), and we came to a conclusion.

"Well, why don't you guys just use Ansem's computer? I'm sure you could find whatever you need to know there. If you can't, it's going to be tough to find anything about it," he told us. "I'll show you the way," he said, leading us down to the subbasement.

We found Ansem's study to be in much better shape. The place was fixed up, no longer disheveled. Though the portrait of Xehanort still hung, I had no qualms about it. Squall led us to the back, where Ansem's computer sat.

"Do you think you can handle it?" he asked us.

"Yeah, sure. I can use a computer," I told him. Squall then left us in the computer room, Rinoa close in tow. I sat down in the chair (me being the best one with computers) and started searching. I couldn't think of anything else to look for besides 'Heartless.'

"All it says is they don't have a heart. They're darkness materialized, made when someone forsakes the light. Nobodies are made from strong-hearted peoples who forsake the light willfully. They seek the heart of worlds and, in the end, the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts," I read aloud. "They also seek to capture hearts and add to their ranks."

"That's all? Doesn't it have more?" Jason asked me.

"Well, yeah, but it's all data. Nothing important. Test data… hypotheses… nothing proven," I answered.

"Well, they've taken our world's heart, I presume," Amy said. "We all just disappeared and reappeared elsewhere. We must have had strong hearts," she concluded.

Maybe they did, but I thought otherwise about myself.

"Well, let's try searching on Nobodies," I said. Then I punched in 'Nobody' in the search box, and it came up with plenty of info.

"Hm… Nobodies are made when a strong-hearted person becomes a Heartless. That we know. Nobodies are seeking hearts to become complete… blah blah blah blah blah… Oh, and some info on the now-extinct Organization XIII. Nothing new," I told them.

"That's it, huh? Well, try searching for those… Luce, or whatever," Amy asked.

I did so. After punching in 'Luce,' the computer loaded some info about them.

"Luce… made when people forsake the darkness, therefore their completion. They lose their souls, but their hearts become pure. They look for purity… to erase the Heartless… the rest of the data is corrupt," I reported.

"Is that all? Wow. We've got nothing to go on, nobody to turn to, and no idea what we're supposed to do. What a waste," Jason complained.

"Stop whining!" Amy yelled at him.

"Wait. I've got an idea," I said. I tried searching for the genesis of all the problems: Xehanort.

"Xehanort. He appeared, as if from nowhere, with no memories and on the verge of death. Taken in by Ansem… became a Heartless and Nobody… opened the door to darkness," I reported.

"Yeah, we already know that," Amy told me.

"True. But one thing surprises me: his lack of memories. If you remember correctly, some of those pods in the Twilight Town's basement looked like they'd been used. I wonder…" I started.

"What?" Amy asked me.

"What if one of those was used on him? Maybe it happened," I concluded. "Maybe someone used that pod to erase Xehanort's memories."

"Well, if that's true, then what are we going to do? Run straight back to Twilight Town?" Amy asked me. "Other worlds will surely be in danger, with the Heartless about and whatnot."

"Well, we can always go back to Twilight Town. I guess you're right about the other worlds, though. Who knows, maybe we'll run into the Destiny Islands!" I exclaimed, getting up from the chair.

"Well, let's get going then. Let's find somewhere to beam up," Jason said. We did so, leaving the castle without saying goodbyes. I made sure to pick up my Souba and Masamune.


	7. 5: The Endless Tundra

**Chapter Five: The Endless Tundra**

After boarding our Gummi Ship, we went to the bridge. We then roamed around for a while before coming across a world seal. After opening the path with our combined piloting skills (we kinda… took a crash course) and then went through to the world beyond. Twilight Town could wait.

When we landed, we found ourselves in a thick, dark forest, covered with snow. I walked around a little, checking out our surroundings. Snowy forest as far as the eye could see. This did not bode well. I had guessed where we were, and from what I believed, we could be in trouble, very fast and very soon.

I quickly ran back to where my friends were, and told them of what I'd discovered.

"You guys, we have to get out of here. I think I know where we are," I told them.

"Where?" Amy asked me.

"We're… in Narnia," I whispered.

"Where's that?" Jason asked me.

"Don't you know? Have either of you guys seen the movies or read the books?" I asked, surprised by their lack of knowledge.

"What? I've never heard of that," Jason said.

"Well, I have. And my instincts tell me we need to get out of here, now!" I shouted.

"Fine… fine…" Jason complained, and we started walking through the dense, snowy forest. The place seemed to be totally desolate and devoid of life, as we encountered no animals on our way through it. I felt an eerie presence about us, though…

After breaking through the forest, we stood in a vast tundra. Despite the steady snowfall, I could faintly see a river on the horizon, outlined by the rising sun. Trudging through the freezing snow and wet feet (your feet get wet in snow, for those of you who don't know), we reached the river by the time the sun had risen halfway into the sky.

"Man, I'm so cold…" Jason complained. Truth be told, I was really hating it right now too (and I'm one who likes to go play in the snow). Even with my coat and dark clothes, I was freezing my bones off.

"How are we supposed to cross this?" Amy asked through her shivers. "There's no way to cross it, from what I see. There's no ice to float across on, either."

"Hm… I know!" I said. Truly, I did: I'd use my True Form, and then use my enhanced strength and agility to simply jump across the waterfall. I closed my eyes and cast off the darkness, and I felt that strength flow into me… my true strength.

"Whoa! Roy… what are you…" Amy started, but I grabbed her and Jason by the wrists, then sprang over the waterfall. I made sure to go out of my True Form quickly after we landed in the crunchy snow beneath us.

"What was that?" Jason asked me briefly after we landed. "Your hair turned white!"

"It was… nothing. We made it across the waterfall, right?" I said.

"Well, yeah, but…" Amy started.

"Then, let's get going!" I shouted, running off toward another forest. They followed, and I was glad I gotten myself out of that discussion.

After dashing through another snowy forest (which got progressively less snowy), we found ourselves face-to-face with a camp… in it were all sorts of mythological creatures. At the long end of the camp, there was a yellow tent.


	8. 6: DecisionPhilosiphy

Chapter Six: Decision/Philosophy

"Wh-hoa! Look at all that!" Jason exclaimed, surprised by the sight (we all were, but…). Two centaurs galloped up to us, and held axes crossed in front of us before we could react.

"Who are you three?" one of the centaurs asked.

"Hey, we don't want any trouble. We just want to get away from that snow," I told him. My boots were still wet. It sucked.

"Could they be spies?" the other centaur asked the first one.

"Highly doubtful. These three look like the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve. What shall we do with them?" he replied.

"Let us take them to Aslan. Surely he will know what to do with them," the second centaur said.

"Come with us," the first centaur told us, leading us forward. Not wanting any trouble, we complied. He led us through a camp filled with various mythological creatures and walking, talking animals. After only a few minutes, we reached the tent at the far end of the camp. This one was larger, more grandiose. A great lion came treading out of the tent as we approached.

"Aslan, we found this small group of humans on the outskirts of our encampment. What shall we do with them?" he asked of the lion.

"Leave them here. I will decide what shall be done with them," he replied.

"Very well," the centaurs replied, then walked off.

"So, what brings you three to my camp?" he asked us. "The Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve are already accounted for. What brings you here?"

"Well…" Jason started, but Amy quickly interrupted.

"We want to help you in your battle," Amy told him.

"What! Amy, it's not our…" I began, but was interrupted by a roar from Aslan.

"Stop your bickering. Please, tell me why you are here," he asked us again.

"We're going to help you. Isn't that right, Jason?" she said. It was a rhetorical question, but he replied anyway.

"Just tell me more about what's going on. I'll help, already. Geez…" he muttered.

"We are preparing to do battle with the evil White Witch, who aims to hold Narnia in an eternal winter. She is also very cruel, and kills all who oppose her with her," he told us.

"Well, I can't sit back while something like that happens! I'm in!" he proclaimed.

"What of you?" Aslan asked me.

"… I must politely decline," I told them, walking off.

------------

I sat on a cliff overlooking the camp, viewing the sunset. The wind blew through the air, ruffling my jacket. I sensed someone was walking toward me. I already knew who it was, so I wasn't surprised when Aslan stood beside me.

"Why did you not offer to help us in our battle? You seem to know of all the events that are happening, yet for some reason, you do not help us. Why?" he asked.

"… It's not my place. Even if it were, I won't help anyone who deals in absolutes," I told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"… you say the White Witch is evil, yet to her, you are evil. Believing that you are the 'good' force, and your enemies are the 'evil' force is, as I see it, naïve," I told him.

"Intriguing. Please, go on," he asked of me.

"Well, who you view as evil, they view themselves as good. And, those that oppose you believe they are good and you are evil. So, in the end, nobody is 'good' or 'evil.' Such terms are simply used to justify what one is doing to an opposing force," I said. "Nothing is as simple as black and white. In the end, it's a matter of ideals, and how far people are willing to go to achieve those ideals."

"You are far wiser than I had anticipated. Still, will you help us? The White Witch's army is far vaster than our own. Would you be willing to help?" Aslan asked again.

I shrugged. "Maybe, if I feel like it," I answered. With that, the great lion tread off, leaving me alone to watch the sunset. 


	9. 7: The Great Battle

**Chapter Seven: The Great Battle**

After that day, everything played out as it should have. Amy and Jason were busy training Peter and Edmund, but I stayed on that bluff most of the time. The White Witch came and demanded Edmund. Aslan negotiated and traded his life for Edmund's freedom. Getting up at dawn, I saw him, with Lucy, Susan, and Amy, walk off into the forest.

Knowing what came next, I walked over to a cliff that would overlook the battlefield. Even though I didn't want to fight, I would certainly watch. If things got really desperate, then I suppose…

The battle was set, with Jason, Peter, and Edmund on the front lines. There were thousands of critters and beasts along with them, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.

The White Witch and her army appeared on the horizon, riding a chariot pulled by polar bears. As the battle began, I simply sat back and watched it unfold. _Jason will be fine_, I thought to myself. _He's stronger than all those people, and he has the Keyblade. The only other important people are Peter and Edmund, and they'll survive._

But everything didn't play out as it was supposed to. The battle was turning faster than normal. If I didn't do something… they would lose before the reinforcements could arrive.

"Fine. I see this is what it is I must do…" I muttered, slowly standing up. I pulled out my Masamune and Souba, then fused them into the Soubasune. "Looks like I'll be seeing some action, anyways!" I yelled, jumping off the cliff. Rushing toward the front lines as fast as I could, narrowly weaving through the armored critters and mythological beasts, as well as dodging various incoming projectiles.

Eventually making it to the front lines, where the 'good' army was taking a serious beating, I began to fight. Using my awesome abilities, I single-handedly began to turn the tide. Even when Aslan arrived, the battle was still in our favor.

"Roy! So you decided to fight after all!" Jason yelled at me.

"Well, of course! I couldn't miss out on the action!" I yelled back. "Don't misunderstand me… I'm not doing this because it's 'right!'"

The battle ended shortly thereafter. Everybody was exhausted (except me… heh…), and most of the critters and creatures trudged off. Jason, Amy, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Aslan, and I all grouped together in the center of the battlefield.

"In the end, you chose to fight. You have my thanks," Aslan told me. "And now, let us journey to the castle, so that the new Kings and Queens of Narnia may be crowned."

"Whatever, man…" Jason muttered. "C'mon, Roy… Amy. Let's get out of here…"

I sensed something. This battle was not over… not yet.

"Wait! I feel something… darkness…" I said. Looking to the horizon, the forest in the distance was covered in snow. A great darkness was seeping out of it… and an army of Heartless. The White Witch appeared on another chariot; this time pulled by two Large Body style Heartless on all fours.

"What are those grotesque creatures?" Lucy asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just get out of here, now!" I yelled at the small group.

"But even you can't take a number of enemies that big! You will need some help!" Peter shouted.

"Forget about me and go! I'll handle this!" I told them.

"Do as he says, children. You must flee," he told them. "I entrust the fate of Narnia to your hands." Aslan and the children left, but Amy and Jason stayed at my side.

"In this with me to the end, eh? Well then, let's go!" I shouted, then charged headlong into the Heartless. I'm sure Amy and Jason followed, as I heard their war cries behind my own.

Hacking our way through the immense number of Heartless, mostly Shadows and Neoshadows, we became separated. I knew we couldn't win this battle with marshal might alone; we (or better yet, I) would have to slay the White Witch. She was controlling the Heartless, so once she was dead, I figured, they'd go away.

Cutting a swath through the Heartless' ranks with my awesome Soubasune, I fought my way through the sea of darkness up to the White Witch's chariot, wherein I easily slew her steeds. Her chariot came to a crashing halt, grinding through the ground. The Witch herself jumped out of the chariot, still donning her battle armor and sword.

"You… you're…" she began, but I wasn't in the mood for talking. I went into my True Form and made the Phoenix Sword. I held it at her, its massive 9-foot blade pointed straight at her throat.

"I'll end this," I said coldly. I whirled my blade around, intending to cleave her in half. Unfortunately, the Witch jumped backward, raising a spire of ice. My blade sheared through it, and then I charged at her.

The Witch had drawn her own blade, but my weapon was superior in power and reach. Added to my skill and enhanced abilities from my True Form, she was nothing. I easily split her sword in two using my blade's unique properties, then gave her a few kicks and punches. The Witch herself landed back on her chariot.

"Who… who are you, hero from a distant land?" she asked me with her dying breaths (as my enhanced strength had easily bested her).

"… hero? I'm no hero. I just don't like you, that's all," I replied. I went out of my True Form as the Heartless disappeared. Thus, Amy, Jason, and I were left in an empty field. My friends walked over to the only remaining thing in the field; the White Witch's chariot.

"Roy… what happened?" Amy asked me.

"It's over. We can go now, after we seal the Keyhole," I told them.

Summoning his Keyblade, and using the White Witch's wand as an activator, Jason sealed the Keyhole. I felt my Keyblade try to come out as well, but using strong willpower, I supressed it.

"… come on, let's go," Jason said, somehow beaming up to the Gummi Ship. Amy followed soon after.

I stayed behind a moment to loot a small stack of papers the Witch was carrying in her chariot. Then I yelled at Amy and Jason to beam me up.


	10. 8: Unraveling Mysteries

**Chapter Eight: Unraveling Mysteries**

After beaming up, I went straight to the bridge. I decided to show my friends my spoils immediately; I was sure they pertained to the mystery we were going to have to figure out. After plopping down in the captain's seat, I motioned them to come closer.

"What is it?" Amy said, exasperated, as she walked over to my seat.

"Look. I found these papers in the White Witch's chariot," I told them.

"Really, man? What do they say?" Jason asked.

"Uh… 'Today, I've taken the last survivor and placed him inside a pod. Having fought in the Keyblade War, this one seems to have survived on luck alone… or could it be that he has broken the chains of fate? I'm not sure…'" I read aloud.

"'After altering his memories and personality, I will send this one after the Radiant Garden. That place…' … the rest is illegible or faded," I informed.

"Keyblade War? What's that?" Amy asked (though we were all asking the same thing).

"Well, from the name of it, I'd assume it's a war that involved multiple Keyblades, or was fought over a single Keyblade. But from what the report said… 'the last survivor,' I'd have to say it was fought with multiple Keyblades," I theorized.

"Well, then, what about the 'pod?'" Jason asked.

"Undoubtedly the pods in the basement of Twilight Town's mansion. Some of the other ones looked like they'd been used before," I answered.

"So if we go to Twilight Town, we might find out more about this!" Jason exclaimed.

"… unfortunately, I doubt it. From the look and feel of these papers, they're pretty old. Any traces this report mentions are probably gone," I said.

"Stop being so pessimistic. Well then, now what?" Amy asked.

"We keep going. Sooner or later, we'll find more of these papers, and maybe Kingdom Hearts. And once we find Kingdom Hearts…" I started.

"… we'll find the way home," Amy finished. "All right, let's go."

"To Twilight Town!" I shouted, setting the ship in motion. We quickly arrived, and beamed down to the surface. At the train station, we took the Underground Concourse to the Street Common, then meandered through the woods to the Mansion.

"What do you think we'll find in there?" Jason asked me.

"I'm not sure…" I said hesitantly, looking at the paper, "but there's no turning back! Let's go!"

We charged into the open gates…


	11. 9: The Subbasement

**Chapter Nine: The Subbasement**

"Let's go!" I shouted, but a flash of light from the sky made a dome of light in front of us. Stopping short, the silver-haired man stood up and turned around.

"Sephiroth…" I said with awe.

"So, you three are the new chosen warriors of light. Interesting…" he began. "Even you, the void," he proclaimed, pointing at me.

"What business do you have with us?" Amy asked him, her blade drawn, a hint of disgust in her voice.

"I was only looking for Cloud. Tell me if you've seen him," he instructed us. "Oh, and little girl, only draw a weapon against me…" he started, then placed his hand on his sword hilt. Amy's Sakabato subsequently went flying out of her hands. "… if you plan to use it."

"O-okay…" Amy said, this time rather shakily. We then went past him, but I made sure to watch my back. Walking into the dusty mansion, we found some footprints in the dust.

"Whose footprints do you suppose those are?" Jason asked me.

"Well, a lot of people live in Twilight Town. They're afraid of the mansion, though. There's two set of footprints… and judging from the size…" I started.

"It could only be…" Jason continued.

"Sora… and Riku," Amy finally finished. "Come on, guys!" Amy shouted, charging off toward the library. We followed her. There, in the shallow depths of the library, stood the two legendary heroes… Sora, and Riku.

"Sora! Riku!" Amy shouted to the two before thinking.

"Who's there?" Sora asked, he and Riku summoning their Keyblades. I grabbed Amy and, along with Jason, we slammed down on the floor.

"Shhh! We don't want to be seen by them!" I whispered to Amy.

"Why not!" she whispered back, somewhat aggressively.

"I can't explain it. Maybe later!" I whispered.

"Who was that? It sounded like Kairi…" we overheard Riku saying.

"It couldn't be…" Sora said. I felt a tone of aggression… sorrow… darkness in his voice. This was not the Sora we knew. "Either way, let's keep going," he said to Riku. I heard them walking off

We stood up, dusting off our clothes (the ground was really dusty).

"What was that all about!" Amy half-yelled at me.

"That's… not the Sora we know. He's different, in some way. I can't place my finger on it, though," I said.

"Well, what do you think we should do now?" Jason asked.

"They went off by the computer room, so let's try going through that blocked area," I said.

"But it's blocked!" Amy reminded me.

"Hey, no problem! I'll just slice the wreckage in two!" I exclaimed with a smile.

After taking the short walk down to the floor below (I jumped), I quickly and quietly cleaved the wreckage in two with my Buster Sword. Then, after pushing aside the pipes, we all broke the glass and stepped through the doorway, sealed within darkness.

"Dang it! I can't see anything!" Jason complained.

"Don't worry about it. Our eyes will get used to it in a second," Amy reassured him.

After waiting for a few moments, we wandered off into the dark recesses of the Twilight Town Mansion's subbasement. After meandering through the darkness and going down (what seemed to be) several staircases, we arrived at a doorway. I knew it was a doorway because it was glowing, and with the glow I could see an intricate pattern etched on the door.

"What do you suppose this is?" Jason asked.

"Duh, It's a door! Use your brain!" I yelled at him, smacking him on the head with the handle of my Souba.

"Ow! Geez, man, chill out!" he muttered.

"Well, let's go through it, then. What do you think we'll find on the other side?" Amy asked us.

"Who knows? At any rate, we won't find out unless we go through the door," I said.

"I suppose you're right. Let's go, then," Amy resigned, and we all went to walk through the door (me first, of course). The inside was quite familiar…


	12. 10: Next Journey

**Chapter Ten: Next Journey**

"Wh-what is this?" Amy stuttered, looking at the interior of the room.

"It can't be…" Jason muttered.

"I thought as much…" I finished. The interior of the room looked exactly like Sora's Pod Room. It was the same… but the pod's glass was shattered, and the background wasn't pure white… it was more of a grey. The small markings around the pod were also of a different color; instead of plant-green, they were blood-red.

"This is… a memory pod?" Amy asked.

"So it would seem," I answered. "But the major question is: who was in the pod?"

"I don't know, but whoever it was, they sure didn't seem to like it," Riku said.

"Well, yeah…" I muttered, then jumped around in surprise. Somehow, Riku and Sora had managed to follow us down here! Busted!

"Just who are you three?" Sora asked us, quite brazenly.

"Roy," I answered simply.

"Amy," well… Amy said.

"Me? Uh… I'm Jason!" he said.

"Well, could you tell us what you three are doing down here?" Riku asked us.

"We found these papers… somewhere else, and wanted to know what they mean," I told him, showing the papers we got off of the White Witch.

"Hm…" they muttered while reading the papers. I knew they wouldn't get far due to the papers' damage and illegibility. Even so, they spent a good few minutes reading the papers before handing them back to me.

"This says something about a Keyblade war and these pods. Is that why you came here?" Sora asked us.

"Of course! Why else would we venture down into the depths of darkness?" Jason asked him (though it was a rhetorical question).

"Well, from the looks of things, whoever was in this pod certainly didn't like it," I said, while we all turned around to look at the thing. It was shattered…

"Well, we aren't going to figure out anything else by staying here. Let's go," Sora said, turning around. He walked off, disappearing into the darkness.

"What's with him?" I asked Riku.

"Well… some woman came to our home and kidnapped Kairi, his girlfriend. She seems to be mentally torturing him somehow…" he started. "Wait, why am I telling you this? You don't even know my name!"

"Uh… sorry. What is your name?" Amy asked him.

"Riku. And that's Sora," he replied, motioning toward the dark-filled hallway. "And like he said, we really should go. Maybe we can find some more of those papers," he said, then walked off into the dark hallway. Amy and Jason followed close behind, but I stayed for a moment.

I thought I heard something in that room, but I'm not sure… was I hearing things, or did someone really say 'Everything is going as I planned…'?

Doubting myself, I walked out into the dark hallway. We all returned to our respective Gummi Ships, then sailed off to find another world. After a terrific space battle, we found…

Port Royal.


	13. 11: Deception

**Chapter Eleven: Deception**

Something weird happened… instead of landing with my friends (and Sora and Riku), I landed on a ship somewhere adrift in the ocean. I could tell we were in the ocean because of the salty smell… the wind blowing through my hair. My hand was in a small puddle of water. Opening my eyes, I saw the ocean spraying against the ship in the dark of the night.

I stood up, hearing pirates around me shouting and running. Walking over to the starboard, I saw… Cap'n Jack. He was with Will Turner. I walked up to him, ignoring all the pirates. I brashly began a conversation.

"So, what's goin' down, Cap'n?" I asked him.

"Who the devil are you?" Jack asked me in his somewhat detached tone.

"Doesn't matter. What's goin' on?" I asked again.

"Well, lad, Will Turner here is about to set out for the Flying Dutchman," he told me. "Care to join him?"

"Why not?" I muttered, hopping into the boat as it was lowered. Jack didn't seem to like this too much… I heard him yelling from the deck.

"Who are you?" Will asked me moments after I had jumped into the boat.

"Well… call me Roy," I told him.

"Very well. Could you help me with the oars, Roy? We're going over to the Flying Dutchman," he told me, pointing to a barely visible, wrecked ship sitting a fair bit away from us.

I grabbed one of the oars, and Will grabbed the other. We began rowing toward the wreck, reaching it in a few minutes. Silently, stealthily, we went onto the wreck. After fending off a couple of pirates (they were nothing…), we went onto the deck of the ship.

"What the…" I muttered, feeling the ship under me suddenly shaking. I watched as a great ship rose out of the sea. Before I could react, several monstrous creatures knocked me out.

When I came to, I was back on the Black Pearl. I was bound and gagged, unfortunately. Barely conscious, I strained to see through the thick darkness that had enveloped me. It seemed Jack was talking to some sort of fish man… he had squid tentacles for a beard, and the back of his head was sort of puffy. And, worst of all, instead of a left arm, there was a massive crab claw…

"Nintey-nine souls," the creature told Jack.

"Well, what of this boy? He is a good, fine lad. S'ppose you could add him in your count?" Jack asked him.

"Very well. Nintey-eight souls," he replied. Then I was knocked out again.

"Augh…" I muttered as I finially came to. It seemed like I'd been out for days… and, as I had learned across my adventures, if it seemed that way, it probably was. I was in the ship's hold, and it was hard to see in the darkness… but it seemed all the crewmen were fast asleep. I was horrified at the sight of the creatures; all of them were some sort of monster, part human and part sea creature. Holding back my disgust, I treaded slowly, cautiously, across the deck, unhindered by my great amount of steel (as it had been taken from me…) and seeking the captain's cabin. I knew something important was there… maybe my swords.

Using my stealth skills (not hard, now that I was about 20 pounds lighter), I made it to the captain's cabin. There Will Turner stood, about to go into the cabin, when I grabbed him on the shoulder.

"What… it's you!" he whispered.

"Yeah. What'cha doin?" I asked him.

"Sneaking into Davy Jones' cabin to find a key. Will you keep watch for me?" Will asked back.

"Uh… no. But I'll go in too," I said. I really wanted to find my swords… I felt naked without them.

"Fine," he said, opening the cabin with utmost care. After sneaking inside, Will proceeded up to the monster I had encountered earlier (presumably, that was Davy Jones) while I looked around for my swords. I found all five of them neatly leaning against a wall. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Will (who was combing through Jones' 'beard') dropped one of the tentacles on Jones' organ, making a loud note. I dropped the Buster Sword on the ground, but its noise was masked through the note.

After successfully retrieving Davy Jones' key (as well as my blades, which I quickly re-equipped), we set foot out on Jones' ship. One again treading stealthily through Jones' crewmen, Will and I found ourselves by a lifeboat. There a man with barnacles on his face was standing, apparently waiting for us.

"Will, get out of here. Take this boat. You too, stranger," he told us.

"Sure, fine by me," I said, hopping in the small dinghy. Will stayed behind a moment, though, but soon joined me. The boat was then lowered.

After staying adrift in the rough seas for some time (presumably about 6 hours), dawn broke. A ship was on the horizon! Doing our best to row toward it, we boarded said ship with little difficulty.

After boarding the boat, Will demanded to see the captain. Some of the soldiers took us in to see him (of course, it was a British ship), and we had only a brief talk with the captain.

"Who are you two?" he asked us, rather harshly.

"It doesn't matter! Davy Jones is on his way, and…" I started, but was interrupted by a massive CRACK! Rushing outside to the deck, we found it literally split in two with a giant tentacle, also being swarmed by Heartless.

"Dang it!" I shouted, rushing toward the Heartless. I quickly used a batto-jutsu with my Masamune, while Will struggled against them using a cutlass. Even with out strength, the ship was already split in two, and began sinking moments after our initial strikes. As the ship sank into the depths, I stylishly sheathed my Masamune, then used my True Form briefly to jump, landing on a piece of wreckage.

After drifting for a few minutes, I came across Davy Jones' cursed ship, the Flying Dutchman, again. I stowed away in the mouth motif, hiding along with Will. We spoke little, like before, but came across a sandy atoll soon after stowing away. There was also a jungle there.


	14. 12: Decision

**Chapter Twelve: Decision**

Will promptly jumped off, and when I heard Jones call out "Down!" I did so as well. Using my True Form, I was able to jump the distance and land on the atoll just as Will was walking over to a small group of people on the beach. I walked up to them, still in my True Form, and heard their talkings.

"I'll take the chest," Norrington said as I walked up to the group, making a small dust storm in my wake.

"I need it to save my father!" Will argued. I had a dark look on my face now…

"So sorry, mates, but I need Jones' heart for myself," Captain Jack Sparrow said. I walked up to them, drawing their attention. I looked at them with unintentional contempt.

"It's a treasure chest. Stop your pointless arguing," I told them. "We can all use whatever's in it," I finished.

"Wrong, mate. You can never trust a pirate," he said, pulling out his cutlass. I parried the hit with my Souba, then got into a fighting stance as Will and Norrington also pulled out blades. We all clashed our swords above the chest, but then I jumped back. We then engaged in a spectacular sword fight. They possessed little skills… compared to my awesome, refined form.

Our fight took us through the dense jungle, with Elizabeth yelling at us the whole way. Eventually we reached an abandoned church. Fighting and taunting each other, while stealing the key continually, Jack, Norrington, and Will fought each other up to a waterwheel.

I promptly broke off from that fight. I heard Elizabeth yelling for help, and despite my nature, I felt compelled to fight them instead. She was fighting with two other pirates, and the lot of them were tossing swords between each other. And, of course, they were being chased by Davy Jones' crew. I entered and quickly put an end to them, but more pirates just showed up. We fought heroically, reaching a dinghy after several minutes of intense combat.

Climbing aboard the dinghy, and soon joined by Jack and Will. Jack immediately grabbed his jar of dirt. When I asked Jack what happened to Norrington, he simply replied "He decided to hang back, mate."

We rowed back to the Black Pearl, unhindered by Jones' crew. We knew Davy Jones would come after us, so Jack, saying that 'we can outrun her blowing into the wind,' decided we would try and flee. We did so, and were able to nearly overcome the Dutchman.

Sadly, it wouldn't be that easy. Will and I realized the Kraken had been summoned, seeing its massive form under the water. At that moment, I resolved myself to something.

"You guys… I'll go distract Jones. Go as fast as you can. Don't worry about me! I know it's got to be done," I told them.

"How are you going to do that?" Elizabeth asked me.

"Like this," I said quietly. Still in my True Form, I jumped toward the distant Flying Dutchman. Landing smoothly on the deck, I easily surprised the ship's monstrous crew. I already had my Masamune drawn and outstretched, and my face was down slightly. Looking up, I saw Jones' crew assault me, but using my enhanced strength and agility, I not only defeated them, I made it look easy.

After sheathing my Masamune stylistically, I heard the Captain's room door bang open. Davy Jones himself deigned to do battle with me. Walking out slowly so his boots thudded loudly on the loose planks, Jones stopped just in front of me, looking at me with rage.

"Come back for more punishment, boy? I should have killed you when I had the chance," he said, looking at me with even more contempt.

"Punishment? I'm here to punish you, Jones. I won't let you get away with this!" I shouted, performing a batto-jutsu with my Souba. Despite the blazing speed of my stroke, Jones blocked my move with his left arm.

"Don't underestimate me, boy. I AM the sea!" he claimed, slashing at me with a massive saw I'd missed before. It was huge… about the size of my Phoenix Sword, serrated on both edges. I narrowly parried the hit, jumping back.

"Ha ha! This'll be fun… but first, Jones, allow me a moment," I asked. He lowered the blade, and I summoned my Keyblade. Using Davy Jones' locket as an activator, I sealed the Keyhole. No more Heartless, no more Nobodies. Just me, Jones, and blades.

"Come," I beckoned Jones with a 'bring it on' taunt. He quickly lunged at me, making a low horizontal slash. I jumped onto the blade, taunting him.

"Is that the best the sea can do? I'm disappointed…" I muttered, jumping up, tossing out all my blades, and combining them into the Phoenix Sword.

"Now, let's play!" I shouted, lunging at Jones with a thrust. He pushed my sword aside, attempting to make another slash. But the recoil from his move allowed me the time to parry his attack, but this time I was sent skidding slightly across the deck. I raised my sword to block one of Jones' diagonal attacks, quickly parrying it and cutting off one of his tentacles.

"Don't push your luck!" he yelled, jumping on top of the captain's cabin. I pursued him, jumping far higher than necessary. I came down on him hard, despite the fact that he blocked the move, sending a great crack through his saw blade. I was thrown up into the air, and came down hard on him again. This time the weapon broke in two, though Jones was still standing.

I landed smoothly on the deck. Having earned myself a brief reprieve, I looked across the sea to see the Kraken devouring the Black Pearl.

"NO!" I yelled as the ship was dragged beneath the waves. Then I seemed to lose myself… sort of. Everything went blurry… I couldn't see what I was doing…

When I came to my senses, I felt I was no longer in my True Form. I was standing on the deck of the battered Dutchman, Davy Jones sneering at me. I was holding my Buster Sword down on the deck, and I was breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Amazing… that one like you could possess such power…" Davy Jones sneered at me. I staggered to my feet just as Jones charged at me with his broken blade, barely able to move my arms. Just as I was about to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker, I was beamed up…


	15. 13: A Glimpse of the Truth

**Chapter Thirteen: A Glimpse of the Truth**

-New Ability-  
Roy – Chaos Form: An unstable form that renders Roy berserk. Despite the uncontrollability of the form, it is immensely powerful; even more so than Roy's True Form. Unfortunately, Roy loses his speed and agility boost in this form. The Phoenix Sword is also unusable in this form; due to the lack of restraint, the special blade cannot maintain integrated.

"What?" I gasped as I found myself back on our Gummi Ship's bridge.

"There you are! What happened to you, Roy? You just up and disappeared!" Amy asked me… sort of.

"Well… I…" I began. "It's… nothing. It's nothing," I told her.

"It's not nothing, Roy! You look exhausted!" Jason shouted. "What happened?"

"Well… I… I was a pirate," I told them. "A lot of stuff happened in Port Royal, and…"

"Wait. YOU got to be a PIRATE? That's my lifelong dream!" Jason said. "Why, oh why, couldn't it have been me?" he complained.

"Hey, it's not like I asked for it. Besides, being a pirate is no fun…" I muttered. "Anyways, what happened to you guys?"

"We went to Agrabah. Nothing like a day in the desert to rekindle your spirit!" Amy remarked.

"Yeah, Aladdin had some problems with his dad. We helped him sort them out," Jason said.

"Well, how are Sora and Riku? Are they doing alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, they're fine, I suppose. But something's… different… about Sora. I can't place my finger on it… but he's… darker, somehow," Amy said.

I figured as much, I thought. Without Kairi, his light…

"Well, we found these papers in a tomb on our way. They look important, but are as cryptic and faded as those papers you found," she told me.

"They mention the basement of Hollow Bastion. And maybe Xehanort's Heartless machine," Jason told me.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said.

"Yes, sir!" Amy and Jason said simultaneously. I wasn't sure if they were joking or being serious. Either way, they hopped into chairs and punched in the coordinates, sending us straight toward the Radiant Garden.

We landed in the market square. I began walking, but Jason and Amy were hesitant.

"What are you waiting for, guys? Let's go!" I said.

"Um… shouldn't we wait for Sora and Riku?" Jason asked.

"Why? It's not like we can't handle ourselves!" I said, hitting my chest as a show of confidence.

"I guess you've got a point. Let's go," Amy resigned.

We restarted our walk together. Going past the grand castle, we walked toward the ruined castle beyond the Dark Depths. We walked up to the cliff, taking in the sight. It was in a shambles, falling apart at the seams. Several of the towers had crumbled and fallen.

"Well… let's go," I said, hopping off the cliff. I landed on the slope below, sliding across it to reach the bottom. Amy and Jason followed closely. We then ran up to the cliff surrounding the plateau. I used the wrapping on my Zangetsu to repeatedly spear the cliff, scaling it. My friends did the best they could without something to help, and made it up a couple minutes later.

"What took you so long?" I asked them playfully.

"You're… terrible…" Amy panted. I laughed a couple of times, then went off. They followed. The wind blew my coat back as I walked up to one of the fallen towers. I squeezed in through a crack. The inside was pitch black, and I felt something long forgotten stirring in myself…

After my eyes had adjusted, I looked around some more. The glint of light streaming through helped, as well. I saw I was able to walk along the sides of the fallen tower, and wouldn't have a difficult time moving through it. I moved aside so Jason and Amy could get through.

"Man, that's a tight squeeze!" Jason complained.

"Are you never happy?" Amy asked him.

We began the trek down into the ruins. Fighting past almost constant hordes of Heartless, we made our way into the depths of the ruins. The further down we went, the amount of Heartless increased, as well as their strength. Soon we were surrounded by a seemingly limitless amount of Heartless.

"Why does it seem we always get ourselves into these predicaments?" Jason complained.

"How should I know? Maybe it's fate," Amy answered.

"No time for that!" I shouted, slashing at the Heartless with my still-drawn Zangetsu.

We then began a desperate bid to fight off the Heartless. In a long, drawn-out battle, we fought them, but there seemed no end to their numbers. But then there was a light…

"There you are! What happened to you guys?" Sora asked. He had appeared with Riku in that flash of light, which had banished all the Heartless. The duo had summoned their Keyblades.

"Ah, nothin'. We were just following the papers," I said. "Yet another mysterious report leads us on…" I muttered.

"Why didn't you wait for us?" Sora asked.

"No reason. Just felt like doin' this ourselves," I told him.

"Next time, wait," he said. I heard a tone of force in his voice… that was uncharacteristic of him… We then continued the trek down into the dark abyss. After going deep into the ruin, we found a sideways door.

"We all know what's behind that door. Let's go together," Riku said. Amy, Riku and Jason went ahead. I stayed behind to say something to Sora.

"Sora… wait a moment," I said.

"What?" he asked, sounding a little exasperated.

"Don't lose what's most important to you," I told him.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Think about it," I said, going into the room. I walked in, looking at the dimly lit room. The Heartless machine therein was continually making Heartless; within seconds of stepping into the room, we slew a Heartless.

"So, how do we shut this thing down? If it stays on, Heartless will never stop spawning from it," Jason remarked.

"Simple. We bust it up!" I shouted, taking my blades to the glass chambers. They shattered with ease.

"Roy! Stop being so reckless!" Amy shouted. I barely heard her yells over the shattering of glass. After only a few moments, the machine was broken beyond repair.

"Ha HA! Now it'll just make formless darkness!" I exclaimed.

"You reckless idiot! What was that all about!" Jason yelled at me.

"Does it matter? It's destroyed! Now…" I began… but then I heard something. It was like footsteps in the hallway.

"Roy? What are you…" someone began, but I ignored them. I went out into the hall, and looked down into the darkness. I saw something there… it felt like my head was about to split open… There was a woman there… wearing a purple cape… or was it black? It was flashing, yet both colors at the same time…

I screamed at the pain in my head. I couldn't keep it together… I felt myself fading, then I passed out… I think.

You'll know the truth. I promise you that.

When I came to, I was still immersed in the darkness. Although I was propped up against a wall, my head was still pounding. I stood up and went one way. Reaching the end of the dark tunnel, I found the warm sunlight, where my friends stood. I walked into the light.

"Roy, are you okay? You just fainted all of a sudden," Amy asked.

"I'm… fine, thanks for your concern," I said.

"I had some… problems, as well," Sora told me.

"Let's not worry about it for now. We have other things to worry about," I said.

"What are you searching for?" Riku asked us.

"A way home," I said in a dignified manner. In reality, I was searching for something else, as well; the truth about myself. "What are you searching for?"

"Kairi," Sora said.

"Well, let's look together. How about it?" I asked.

"Fine. But only until we find Kairi," Sora agreed.

"It's a deal!" I yelled, giving Sora a high five. We then beamed back up to our respective Gummi Ships.

I pondered the truth about myself as Jason and Amy looked for another world. What am I? I'm no normal human… but I'm not a Nobody, Heartless, or Luce either. I have the exact same Keyblade as Jason, because of what I did. What does that mean?


	16. 14: Fading Light

**Chapter Fourteen: Fading Light**

After much deliberation, we decided it would be best to go to Disney Castle and see why Mickey & Co. weren't involved in all of this. After flying around for a while, and yet another fantastic space battle involving several hundred Heartless and Nobody ships, we reached the Disney Castle. Setting down gently, we were immediately greeted by the hyperactive chipmunks: Chip and Dale.

"Sora! Sora! It's terrible!" Dale shouted.

"The Cornerstone of Light… it's broken!" Chip chirped.

"What? How's that possible?" Sora asked.

"Who knows? At any rate, we should go check it out. Come on, let's go," I said, walking forward into the courtyard. There was a swarm of Heartless… just the regular Shadows, but with the help of my friends and allies (who had followed me), we eradicated them all in fifteen minutes. I didn't even break a sweat.

"Let's go!" Sora shouted. We ran into the Throne Room at full speed, wiped another swarm of Heartless off the face of the Worlds, then plunged into the Hall of the Cornerstone. Instead of the proper Light-filled room, it was dark and shadowy. Though it was difficult at first, after my eyes adjusted I was able to make out the forms of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

"Hi, Sora! Who's this fella?" Mickey asked as soon as he could see us.

"I'm… nobody important," I told him.

"All right. Welp, I guess you're here because of the Cornerstone, huh?" he squeaked.

"Yeah… we heard it broke," Riku said.

"Gosh, I don't know what to make of it," Mickey said, scratching his head. "It just alluva sudden broke one day."

"I don't know what could break the Cornerstone of Light…" Sora said.

"I'm sure there are forces in these worlds we don't understand," Riku said.

"You're right, Riku. We can't understand everything," Mickey said. "But it's so gosh darn weird that the Cornerstone of Light would break."

"We've got to find what, or who, did this. If the Cornerstone of Light was broken…" Amy began.

"… then just about nowhere is safe," Jason finished. "We have to find what's behind it all. Otherwise, all the worlds could be plunged into darkness."

"Of course. But we've got things to do, as well," I said. "Then again, we'll probably find what we're looking for along the way. It always works out like that."

"Welp, I suppose you'd better be goin' then," Mickey said.

"You're not coming with us?" Sora asked.

"Sorry. I've gotta stay with Donald and Goofy to make sure the Castle isn't overtaken," he answered.

"We understand. Well, Sora, want to say goodbye to Donald and Goofy?" I asked him.

"All right," Sora said. He walked into the back of the dim room, said a few words, and came back.

"Well, we'll be seeing you," I said walking out. "So long," I muttered with a salute. We then, all of us, went back to our Gummi Ships. I pondered on how the Cornerstone itself could be destroyed.


	17. 15: Dark Castle

**Chapter Fifteen: Dark Castle**

After yet more wandering through space, and yet another fantastic space battle, we reached a world that looked like a countryside, but it was dark and gloomy. Nothing like the usual sunny places we visit, I thought. Beaming down with my friends this time, we popped up in front of a dark and stormy castle's gates.

"Where do you suppose this is?" I asked my friends.

"Dunno. But we won't figure it out by standing around," Jason said.

"Fine. Let's go," I muttered, opening the grand gates. Despite the castle's grandeur, nothing about it was cheery. All the trees in the courtyard were dead, completely void of any leaves. A crisp, biting wind blew across the area, complementing the unused, murky fountain that was in the center of the courtyard. My ragged coat blew in the wind, and as we approached the fountain, I felt a presence surround us.

"Wait. Do you feel that?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. We're not alone," I answered. With that, several monstrous creatures wielding crude weapons burst out of the inner castle gates. They just kept pouring out. Drawing weapons, we were soon surrounded by a legion of beast-men.

"Well, we always get in pickles like this. Let's get to it!" I shouted, then charged face first into the legion with my Buster Sword. Hack, slash, hack, slash, parry, slash, hack. That was all I knew. I had become a true warrior, and with my fighting style adopted a battlefield philosophy: kill, move on.

After only ten minutes or so, my friends and I stood in a courtyard of corpses. I removed the green blood from my sword by slashing at air, then refastened my Buster Sword to my back. Wading through the corpses, I got back to the fountain, where Jason and Amy were waiting.

"Whoa! Roy… you're really strong!" Amy commented.

"You don't know the half of it. Anyways, now what?" I asked.

"Well, let's go in, shall we?" Jason asked. Rhetorical, as always. We went up to the inner gates, again feeling that dread about us. And I felt something else… the darkness I had ignored for a year began to stir within me.

The inside of the castle was just as dark and threatening as the courtyard. Rats were all over the place, with mold and mushrooms here and there. The castle was barely lit with dim torches. Meandering through the dim halls while encountering staunch resistance from the beast-men, we went around moss-infested dungeons, dank waterways, and humid hallways until we reached a similar throne room.

There, on a dark throne, sat a king. But he was not a king; he was a tyrant. In place of a head, he had a skull. And from that skull sprouted horns. I knew where we were now. And who that was.

He was the Horned King. We were in his castle.

"Who dares approach my throne?" the Horned King asked in a rough, intimidating voice as we walked up to his seat. Not only was he intimidating, but he was a lot taller than a normal person.

"Guys, get out of here," I told them, blazingly transforming into my True Form. "I'll handle this."

"Roy… your hair. And your eyes! What happened to you?" Amy asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll explain later," I told them. They then ran out. I whirled all my blades, save the Cutlass, into the air, then combined them into my Phoenix Sword. "I am Roy Hartmut, the hero. I have come to strike you down."

"Strike me down? Unlikely," he said. Then with a wave of his hand, I was knocked back against the wall.

_Unreal_, I thought. _There's no way…_

I charged at him, blade at the ready. Making a strong slash at his shin, my blade connected, but did little else. I pulled it out and made a vertical cut, which also did little. I jumped into the air, but was blasted back against the wall again. Charging recklessly at the Horned King once more, I made more cuts, but they were all superficial. Nothing seemed to harm him!

_I'll have to run!_ I thought. But no opportunity was presenting itself. I charged at him again and again, only to do nothing even with my Phoenix Sword and be slammed against the back wall again and again.

"Master! The boy we captured has escaped!" some creature yelled, bursting into the room. I used that as an opportunity to escape. Blazing out through the door, I dashed madly through the halls, slaying any beast-man I encountered on the way. I made it to the courtyard, where all the corpses had vanished, through the gate, over the moat, and to safety.

I dashed around, looking for my friends. Eventually I found a small campfire, which I knew was them. Going out of my True Form, I walked up to the camp. Exhausted, I collapsed just feet away from their earshot.

When I came to, I was laying down on a log. Sitting up, I found myself surrounded by trees. A campfire was there in the middle of the small camp, but nobody else was around.

"You're pretty heavy, man," I heard Jason complain. I turned around to see him and Amy staring at me.

"Sorry. I kinda passed out," I said.

"Yeah, yeah. Now give us some answers!" Amy shouted.

"About what?" I asked.

"Your hair and eyes. And why the hell did you stay behind?" she asked me angrily.

"Oh, yeah… about that… heheh…" I began. "I can make myself stronger by removing the darkness from my heart. It's weird, but would take a long time to explain. Just trust me on that," I answered. "And I stayed behind so you guys could get away."

"But… the strength I felt coming from you… it was absolutely unbelievable…" Jason muttered.

"One more question: why do you look like Xehanort when you do that?" Amy asked.

"Do I? I guess so… who knows? Does it matter?" I asked.

"No, not really," Amy resigned.

"Well, did you guys see Sora and Riku?" I asked them.

"Yeah. He was escaping the dungeon with some kids. We held off some guards for them," Amy replied.

"Then we'll wait a few days," I told them. "They'll come back."

"Why should we wait? Why not go after them?" Jason asked.

I laughed. "They don't need help. And we should be here, ready and waiting, for when they get back."

"If you say so…" Jason muttered, then sat down on a log. He tossed another piece of firewood on the campfire. Amy sat down next to him.

"And now we wait…" I said. We waited.


	18. 16: Undeath

**Chapter Sixteen: Undeath**

After waiting a few days, hunting wild boar, and cutting firewood, we saw some creatures go flying into the dark castle, which was easily visible from our position just in the woods. I saw the creatures and informed Jason and Amy.

"That must be our cue," Amy said. After reequipping ourselves, we headed out of the woods and up to the castle gates. Sora, Riku, and some other kids came running up minutes later. The other kids just went zooming by us, but Sora and Riku stopped to talk.

"You guys! Where were you?" Sora asked.

"Oh, just hanging around, waiting for you. What took you so long?" I asked back.

"We had to go find a magic black pot," Riku said.

"Cauldron! It's s cauldron! Geez…" Amy muttered.

"Anyway, what now?" I asked all of them.

"We have to help them get that black pot back. If we don't, the Horned King is going to make an army of undead soldiers!" Riku said.

"Yeah, I suppose that's bad. Well, what do you propose we do, then?" Jason asked.

"Well, we should split up. Half of us will help the others, and half of us will take up the rear, avoiding surprise attacks," Amy said. "Sound like a good idea?"

Everybody agreed.

"Well, I'm going ahead. I hate surprises," Jason announced.

"I'm in front," Riku said.

"I'll hang behind," I said.

"I'll go ahead," Amy said.

"Guess you and I are taking up the rear," Sora said to me. I nodded. Riku, Jason, and Amy ran ahead, while Sora and I walked backwards, making sure no surprises popped up. More squadrons of beast-men and Heartless showed up, but they were nothing before us.

"So, what's your story?" Sora asked me while we walked backwards.

"Whadda ya mean, what's my story?" I asked back.

"Well, everybody involved in these journeys has some story. What's yours?" he asked again.

"Seriously? Well… all right. I wandered across my home country for a year, fought Luce, killed my best friends on accident, was exiled into the Realm of Darkness, and in the end saved my world and turned back time so nobody else remembers. Happy?" I asked him, fighting off a few Heartless.

"That sounds… hard," he said.

"You're telling me," I muttered. We then got back to the task at hand. After a little more backwards-walking, we were near the throne room. I knew it.

"Get ready," I told Sora.

Moments later, legions of undead soldiers were coming towards us from the hallway. Their numbers seemed limitless.

"You think you can handle this many?" Sora asked me.

"No sweat," I said, getting into a batto-jutsu stance, hands on my Masamune. We charged at them together. I did the batto-jutsu, and then used the massive Masamune to devastating effect. We fought them over and over. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to kill the undead soldiers. We fought them for what seemed like an hour, then stood back to back.

"So, what are you looking for?" I asked Sora.

"Kairi. Some woman came and kidnapped her a few months ago. You?" he asked back.

"A way home," I said with my eyes closed. We continued the fight. After what seemed like forever, a great wave of darkness overcame us. When it was gone, all the undead soldiers had turned to dust. We ran into the throne room soon after.

"Guys! What happened?" Sora asked as we dashed up to them.

"That little Gurgi guy… he fell in the pot and disappeared," Riku told us. "But now the Horned King and all his minions are gone…"

"Well, I'm sure everything will work out. Let's get going," I said. My Keyblade that I had long suppressed didn't seem to like that, though. Before I knew what happened, it appeared in a flash of light. Reacting with one of the kids' magic sword, I saw the Keyhole.

I locked it.

Appearing back in the throne room to stunned faces, I quickly put the Keyblade away.

"What the… that's MY Keyblade!" Jason shouted.

"Uh…" I muttered, then ran out. I quickly beamed up to our Gummi Ship once I was out of their sight.


	19. 17: Memories of Ruin

**Chapter Seventeen: Memories of Ruin**

I waited for a while for my friends to return to our Gummi Ship. It seems they had a little more to take care of before coming back. I paced around the ship, frantically trying to think of what to say. I couldn't think of anything… I was at a loss for words…

"Roy! There you are! Why did you run off?" I heard Amy say. Turning around, I realized she and Jason had returned without me knowing. I had been too busy thinking.

"I…" I began, but was still at a loss for words.

"It's okay, Roy. I've calmed down," Jason said. "It was just a little surprising for you to have the exact same Keyblade that I do."

"But I…" I began.

"Just tell us. How did you get it?" he asked.

"It's a long story. I'm not sure you want to hear it all, let alone have the patience to do so," I answered.

"We've got time. Go ahead," Amy said.

"Well… a year ago… a lot of stuff happened. You guys got killed, and after some wandering in the Realm of Darkness, I found a door to a Keyblade Graveyard. I found your Keyblade there, and I took it. My Awakening was different, though…" I said.

"Different? How?" Jason asked.

"It was… inverted. Everything was white, I fought Luce, and I was encouraged to accept my darkness. I even got to choose the sword, but that was all there was," I said. "It was… odd."

"Well, it's good to know we've got another Keyblade wielder on our side. But what did you mean, we got killed?" Amy asked.

"You… got killed. I killed you, Jason on accident…" I said, to his shock, "and our ultimate opponent killed you, Amy."

"But that's impossible! We're alive, aren't we?" she asked me.

"When I defeated our opponent, a year later, I sealed Earth's Keyhole. That rewound time for everyone except me," I explained.

"So it's been two years for you? Pretty amazing…" Jason muttered, "Wish I was that lucky."

"It's not lucky. It kinda… sucks," I said, "Well, what now?"

"We find the next world! We found some papers in the library, but they were really faded and muddy. That stupid king sure doesn't like books at all!" Amy complained.

"Oh, well. What world is next?" I asked.

"We have to find it first," Amy reminded me.

"Oh, yeah. Well, let's go, then!" I ordered. "Toward twelve o'clock!"

We began searching for a new world, one with an unsealed Keyhole.


	20. 18: Call to Arms

**Chapter Eighteen: Call to Arms**

Unfortunately, we weren't able to find another world in need of help. Before we could, a distress signal came on. Putting it on the small viewscreen embedded in the dashboard, Squall's image popped up.

"Calling all ships out there… there's an army of everything out there. We're in need of assistance. Anyone that can help needs to come!" the missive announced.

"What do you think of this?" I asked my friends.

"We should go see what it's all about, and probably help them," Amy said, "Squall did give us some direction in the first place."

"It's not like we can ignore it, anyway…" Jason said.

"All right, let's go," I muttered, then punched in the coordinates for the Radiant Garden. When we arrived there and beamed down, popping up near where Sora and Riku had landed in the borough, it was a lot different than last time. Instead of a clear, blue sky with shines of light flitting down from the sky, the sky itself seemed angry. It was violently flashing between grey, pitch black, and pure white.

"What's… happened here?" Sora asked.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it can't be good," I heard a rough voice say. I turned around to see Vincent Valentine standing atop a building. He jumped down and landed smoothly, walking up to us slowly. "Everything's been thrown out of balance."

"Out of balance?" I asked.

"All worlds maintain some degree of balance. The balance of light to dark is what affects its inhabitants; when there is predominantly light, its residents are as well. The opposite is also true," he explained. "But the balance has been upset here, and you can see the result."

"Who could have that kind of power?" Riku asked.

"I don't know… someone beyond my scope, let alone yours," Vincent answered. He then walked off.

"Well, now we know what's going on to some degree. Let's go see Squall and ask if we can help in some way," Amy said. The five of us walked off toward the castle. We soon found out, to some degree, what Vincent meant; a great number of Heartless, Nobodies, and Luce stood in our simple path. The only true problem was their number; I couldn't keep track of how many attacked us before we made it to the castle.

Bursting inside and quickly slamming the doors shut, we found ourselves in a dark castle. Most of the lights were out or dimmed, causing eerie shadows of ourselves to dance across the walls. Forcing our way through the castle's confusing corridors, fighting off Heartless all the way, we were able to reach the top floors. Here everything was lit. It was nice to not have to watch my back every second.

"Well, let's go find Squall," I said.

"It's Leon," Sora reminded me.

"No, it's… ah, never mind," I muttered. Going through the less-confusing upper stories, we were easily able to find a balcony where everyone was standing. Squall, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Cid, and Merlin were all there.

"So you guys got our message after all," Squall said, "you know what's going on?"

"Yeah, Vincent told us. So, what can we do to help?" I asked.

"How do you know Vincent?" Cloud asked, turning around.

"We met him in the market. What of it?" I asked back.

"If Vincent's here, things must be really desperate," Squall said, "and we can use all the help we can muster."

"Give us the fine details. What exactly is going on?" Sora asked.

"Look over there," he told us. We walked up to the balcony to see in the great maw below. The place was blinding… there were Heartless, Nobodies, and Luce everywhere. I couldn't possibly begin to count their number.

"There are Heartless and Nobodies everywhere, as well as those shining, white creatures," Yuffie said.

"Those are Luce," I explained quickly.

"Yeah, well, there are too many of them. We think they might be related to the problems we've been having," Yuffie continued.

"Well, what should we do?" Riku asked.

"Only one thing to do! Take 'em down!" I shouted.

"Don't be stupid. There's no way you could beat all of them," Cid said gruffly, "not even you."

"But here's the weird part; they aren't attacking each other. It's like something's controlling them," Squall said.

"Who… what could do that… control light, twilight, and darkness?" I asked.

"We're not sure. But everything rests on finding the cause of it," Aerith said. "If we just had a little more help…"

"Wait! Sephiroth…" I muttered.

"Sephiroth? _Sephiroth!_" Cloud yelled, picking me up by the collar and slamming me against the wall. "Where is he? Answer me!"

"I guess it was a mistake to mention him…" I muttered. "He's in Twilight Town, by the mansion."

"I'm going," Cloud said simply, putting me down. He kicked open the balcony door and vanished into the hallways.

"That was close…" I panted. "What's with him?"

"He still hasn't settled his problems with Sephiroth. I'm not sure he ever will," Tifa answered. "Well, we still need a plan. Any ideas?"

"We need to hold them off, at least. Then we can find a way to use Ansem's computer for help," Squall said. "Who's going to be on the front lines?"

"I will! Fighting is what I live for!" I announced immediately.

"We'll go with Roy. He'll need some help," Amy said, grabbing Jason.

"What the…" Jason began, but was quickly silenced by Amy.

"Just shut up and do it!" she whispered at him. He stopped struggling.

"Riku and I will try and contact Tron… see if he can help out," Sora said. He and Riku then walked off into the castle.

"No time like the present! Let's get going!" I yelled, running back into the castle, down the dark corridors, and to the gates…


	21. 19: Sora's Betrayal

**Chapter Nineteen: Sora's Betrayal**

Cutting a swath through all the Heartless, Nobodies, and Luce, my friends and I battled our way across the town down to the courtyard. There we slew a great group of Heartless, then continued to force our way through the darkness to the Crystal Fissure. There, standing before the Great Maw, we saw the true army. It was vast and seemed limitless; perfect fighting conditions for me.

"You guys think we can take this many of 'em?" I asked Jason and Amy.

"If Sora did it, we should be able to do it too!" Amy shouted.

"Yeah, of course!" Jason agreed.

"Then let's go!" I yelled, charging face-first into the Great Maw. The battle quickly stepped up, and soon I was forced to use my True Form to keep up with all of them. Dodging and slashing were all I knew; soon using my Phoenix Sword, I fought them with all I had. As usual, my friends and I were soon standing back to back in the sea of twilight.

"So, was Sora able to take this many?" I asked them.

"I don't think he had to do this much…" Amy panted, clearly exhausted. She was now dual-wielding her katana and sakabato.

"Either way, we can't give up! Let's go!" I shouted, then charged back into the twilight. Even with my abilities, the number was ridiculous. They just kept coming. After a while of continual attacking, I made my way back to the center of the Great Maw, fighting anything that got in my way. We were soon standing back to back again.

"So… still think this was a good idea?" Jason asked, breathing heavily.

"Sure… why not? All we have to do is…" I said, breathing heavily as well. I had dropped my True Form; I had become too exhausted to maintain it. "… hold out until the cavalry arrives."

"Are you sure they're coming? Because I don't know how long we've been fighting…" Amy breathed heavily. We were all exhausted, it seems, and still adrift in a seemingly endless sea of twilight.

After fending off a few more enemies, the cavalry did arrive. It was heralded by spires of light that burst forth from the ground, destroying all they touched. Moments later, anyone that could use any type of weapon in Hollow Bastion jumped off of cliffs surrounding the Great Maw. Inspired by everyone's courage, I headed back into the fray.

Now the battle began to die down. With over a dozen people fighting, added to my strength and the strength of my friends, their numbers didn't seem so limitless. After only a few more minutes of fighting, I could see the horizon. After a few more minutes, the great battle was over.

All in all, everything turned out well. The town had been roughed up a little, but it was nothing a few weeks of work couldn't fix. The worst part was the state I was in; totally exhausted, and about to faint. Amy and Jason weren't in better shape; they too were exhausted to the point of fainting. I persisted, though just moments before we were all able to gather in the center of the Great Maw, Amy and Jason passed out.

"So… how is… everything?" I asked through my heavy breathing. I had been wounded in the battle; I was holding my bleeding right shoulder with my left hand, and carrying my Phoenix Sword in my right hand. I had also twisted my left ankle, and was limping.

"Everything's fine," Aerith told me. "The city's safe."

"But… the sky still… hasn't changed back," I managed to say. "Why?"

"I suppose the source of wherever all those enemies came from is still here," Squall said. "We should go find it."

"No… I'll go," I said.

"You're tired and hurt. You shouldn't push yourself," Tifa said. "Get some rest."

"I can't… I refuse to…" I muttered, limping off. I got cries of protest from everybody, but I continued my solo trudge. I knew only one other place someone could be: the Dark Depths. I hobbled there as fast as my feet could carry me (which wasn't very fast). When I got there, I wasn't too surprised to see someone in a dark purple cape standing there, overlooking the wreckage of the old castle.

"Who… are you?" I asked.

"I am a servant of the world. And if I am a servant, you should consider yourself a weapon, at best," the figure answered.

"What…?" I was stunned. That was the same thing Ansem had said to me two years ago…

The person turned around. It was a woman in a deep purple cloak. She had raven hair, brown eyes so dark they seemed black, and was quite beautiful. But I knew…

"Who… are you? Tell me!" I yelled as best I could.

"I? I am Senka… what of it?" she asked back.

"Senka? Didn't I see… you before?" I asked.

"Quite right. You're very perceptive… and stronger than I had imagined," Senka told me. I could feel something odd about her…

"You… you're the one who… led this army, aren't you…" I wheezed out.

"Yes. And it was fun, seeing you fight," she said with a wicked smile.

"You… I'll end you, if you plan on doing something like this again," I told her as forcefully as I could. I tried to point my blade at her, but I was too weak.

"You… end me? That's amusing…" she laughed a couple times. "But it is not in you power to end me. Not even you, the void."

"I'll… do what I must!" I shouted. I pulled the Cutlass off my back and slammed it into the Phoenix Sword. In a flash of light, the blade was forever changed. It had become smaller, more refined, and the blade was now made of yellow Orichalon. I pointed the smaller blade at her. "I'll do it, you know."

"Of course you would. But you cannot do it," Senka told me with another wicked smile. "See?"

"What… my body! I… can't move!" I struggled as my body stopped moving. I slowly put my sword down at my side, then got down on my hands and knees. "What are you doing?" I shouted as adrenaline began to run through me, giving me the energy to yell.

"Nothing… just making you listen to your inner darkness," Senka said. "You know, the darkness you have been ignoring for two years?"

"That's impossible! Who… what are you?" I asked through heavy breaths.

"I told you, I am a servant of the world," she replied simply. "Now be silent. Sora approaches and I have a choice for him."

"He's already made his choice," I managed to get out before I was silenced. Sure enough, Sora came dashing up just minutes later. He stopped short, as I had, recognizing Senka.

"You! You're that woman who took Kairi!" he shouted. "What did you do with her? Where is she!"

"Kairi? I have not hurt her, if that is what you mean," Senka replied simply. I knew where this was going… and what the result would be…

"Take me to her! Take me to her NOW!" Sora shouted, summoning his Keyblade and pointing it at her.

"Is she that important to you?" she asked.

"Yes… more than anything," Sora said softer this time while he lowered his Keyblade. I knew what Senka was doing…

She was going to break him. I could already tell.

"Even more important than yourself?" Senka asked, opening a dark portal. "Show me just how important, and maybe I will take you to her."

"Please…" Sora begged, getting down on his hands and knees, as I knew he would.

"Very well. Come," Senka bowed, ushering Sora into the dark portal. He got up and sprinted through it instantly, but Senka remained a moment to taunt me one last time.

"I will see you later, Roy," she said to me with a wicked smile again. When she had at last gone through the portal, I felt the restraint be released, and I dropped down on the ground. Utterly exhausted, but not surprised at all by Sora's betrayal, I picked up my Phoenix Sword and began limping back toward the castle.

After a few minutes of staggering, I made it back to the now empty Great Maw. Another few minutes of staggering, and I made it back to the Crystal Fissure. Riku ran by me near the entrance without a word as I limped forward. After I made it to the Courtyard, Riku came running back.

"Where's Sora?" he asked.

"He… left with that woman… Senka. You sensed her, did you not?" I asked back.

"Yeah… there was this foul stench in the air from the moment we got here. I thought it was just all the Heartless, but I guess not. Who's Senka?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later," I managed, but then collapsed.

"Here… let me help you," Riku said, going to support me.

"All right. I guess we're all going to need to help each other out now…"


	22. 20: The Dark Judgment

**Chapter Twenty: The Dark Judgment**

After Riku helped me back to a bed in the castle, I slept for a few days. Considering the scope of the battle we were in, I wasn't surprised when Amy was still asleep after I got up. Jason was up and about, but I avoided talking to him before I got something to eat. After doing so, I went and asked Jason and Riku to meet me in the Borough. I went there myself, carrying my now-permanently fused Phoenix Sword.

"I'm sure you guys have questions, so go ahead and shoot," I said.

"Who was that woman you mentioned… Senka, or whatever?" Riku asked.

"I don't know much. She seems to have a strong dark affinity, considering she was able to control my darkness, or so she said," I answered. "That's all."

"Well, second and foremost, what happened to Sora?" Jason asked.

"He… went into a dark portal that Senka opened. She had told Sora that Kairi was somewhere on the other side," I answered, "but it's not that simple."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"She's going to break him. Make him fall into darkness. Use him as a puppet. I know… she won't let him see Kairi. At least not until he does something for her, which will probably be to kill us when we attempt to enter her stronghold," I answered. "It's a trap, but it's one we have to spring."

"Kill us? Sora would never do that!" Riku shouted. "He's my best friend!"

"Don't you remember what the darkness does to people, Riku? Or have you already forgotten?" I asked.

"No… but Sora's…" he began.

"Sora's no less human than us. I gave in to the darkness as well, Riku. I didn't fall as far as you did, but I still gave in," I said.

"So what should we do?" Riku asked.

"Save Sora… from himself," I replied. "He hasn't fallen far… at least, not yet."

"So where should we go? If anywhere, I'd have to guess that this Senka woman's stronghold would be in the Realm of Darkness. So, where to?" Jason asked.

"Twilight Town. If we can get into the Dark City from the mansion there, we might have a chance of getting into the Realm of Darkness," I said.

"Then let's go," Riku replied. We beamed up to our Gummi Ship, then swiftly flew over to Twilight Town. Saying hi to everybody, we made our way quickly to the woods, then the mansion. Unfortunately, not much was left of the mansion… it looked like Cloud and Sephiroth had fought, and the place was in a shambles.

"Damn it, Cloud! What are we supposed to do now?" I yelled, kicking a wall. I jumped back in pain… I had hurt my toe.  
"We could always go ask Yen Sid. He might know," Jason suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't have a better one," I said. We walked off toward the train station where, luckily, Yen Sid's train was waiting. I didn't take any chances this time and got on first. After Jason and Riku had hopped aboard, the train whirred into motion and we were soon speeding off to Yen Sid's tower.

We arrived shortly, and quickly filed out of the train. The three of us encountered a few Nobodies, but soon took care of them. We then made our way to the top of the tower, where Yen Sid sat, waiting.

"So, Roy, you have returned. Tell me, what has happened?" he asked.

"Sora's… Sora's betrayed us," I said hesitantly.

"Then it is just as I had suspected. You are the cause of this, Roy," Yen Sid told me.

"It's Roy's fault? How's that possible?" Jason asked.

"You see, Roy was meant to lose, if not die, in his first battle with Charon. But your willpower proved too strong; you refused that fate, and in doing so, broke the chains of destiny," Yen Sid replied.

"So I'm free to choose what happens to me. What does that have to do with Sora?" I asked.

"Your simple act of defiance rippled across the destines of all things, changing future events. I do not claim to know your future, but I do know Sora was never intended to be corrupted. Your presence alters the fates of those you come in contact with, changing and warping their fates," Yen Sid told me.

"So it's all my fault…" I said, looking down.

"Do not despair. Though you do hold potential for ruin, you also hold potential for salvation," Yen Sid said.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"If one can destroy, one can create. To save Sora, you only have to come in contact with him and persuade him to give up the darkness," Yen Sid told us. "But you will not find it easy. Undoubtedly he now has a hostile view of you."

"So we'll have to fight. Nothing new," I told him. "How do we get to the Realm of Darkness?"

"There is a way. In the Dark City, simply go off the Edge of Despair. I would suggest a little training for you first, however," Yen Sid answered.

"Training? From who?" I asked.

"Merlin, of course. Though I am a far greater wizard than he is, I know far too much to teach simple lessons to children like you," he answered (and Jason cringed at being called a child). "So go find him, and perhaps Merlin can teach you some lessons you will need to confront Sora."

Jason and Riku went out the door, and I followed. But once again, Yen Sid closed the door in my face.

"What is it this time?" I asked, exasperated.

"I have noticed that your clothes are a little… ragged, to say the least," he said. "With that, and the lack of a scabbard for your sword, I thought you would appreciate some help from the fairies in the next room."

"Yeah, I suppose that would be nice," I replied. "But I'm not throwing away my coat. Send it to the Radiant Garden for me, will 'ya?" I asked, throwing it at him as I walked into the next room. I think he grunted with disgust at my old, musty coat (after all, I hadn't washed it in two years, and it had blood stains all over it).

In the next room, the fairies were waiting for me. They were soon all over me with tape measures, figuring out my exact specifications.

"So, dear, what'll it be?" the red fairy asked me.

"I'm not sure…" I replied. It would be nice to have some new clothes, but I hadn't given it much thought.

"Well, then, just close your eyes and think of something," the blue fairy told me.

I did so. A moment later, I could see a bright flash and then I opened my eyes…

**-NEW Outfit!-  
**Roy: Dark Judgment - an outfit exactly like Kratos' Judgment costume (_Tales of Symphonia_), but with a red and black color scheme in place of the blue and white one. The outfit channels dark energy, but doesn't hamper the use of light-based powers.

"Whoa! This is… awesome!" I said at my new outfit. "Thanks a ton!"

"Any time dear! I just wish it had a little more green in it…" the green fairy mused.

"And a little more blue…" the blue fairy went on as I left the room with my new clothes and (thankfully) a scabbard for the Phoenix Sword.

"Well, thanks for some direction, master Yen Sid. But I've gotta get going," I told him.

"I understand. Do not forget your mission," he told me before I beamed back up to our Gummi Ship.


	23. 21: The Sword in the Stone

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Sword in the Stone**

"Whoa! Where'd you get the new duds, Roy?" Jason asked me upon my immediate arrival.

"The fairies made 'em for me. It's kinda nice, too… not having to wear a musty, blood-stained coat," I replied. "Well, any idea where we should start looking for Merlin?" I asked.

"He's usually at Hollow Bastion… er… the Radiant Garden," Riku said. "But I didn't see him around after the battle."

"Maybe… he's gone to teach King Arthur," I mused. "Arthur accidentally pulled Excalibur out of the stone, and Merlin was there when he did it."

"So, we're going to look for King Artie? That's gonna be such a pain, to find one specific world…" Jason grumbled.

"Nah. All we gotta do is engage enemies in several terrific space battles until we find his world," I said. "Shouldn't be too hard." Indeed it wasn't. We only had to go through a few routes (which meant a few terrific space battles) before we found the English Countryside. After beaming down, we found ourselves near a river. An arrow sat in the dirt, while I could see Merlin overlooking the river. He must have been looking at his reflection.

"Ah! So you've arrived," Merlin said in an enthusiastic voice. "Yen Sid's told me of what you need. Wait just a moment, and I shall teach you along with a young boy."

"King Artie?" Jason asked.

"Artie?" Merlin asked.

"Ah, nothing. Just ignore that," I told Merlin just as I heard footsteps in the underbrush. Moments later, a young boy came running up to our small party. I could tell who it was: King Arthur, though he didn't know it.

"Excuse me, but have you gentlemen seen an arrow?" Arthur asked.

"It's right here," Riku said, handing the arrow to him. He took the arrow and began to walk back through the woods before Merlin interrupted him.

"Wait! Wait just a minute!" Merlin said loudly. "I sense great untapped potential in you. If you wish it, I would train you."

"Potential? In me? All right," Arthur replied, turning around.

"Well, before we get started, I at least need to know your name," Merlin told him.

"My family calls me Wart. But everybody else calls me Arthur," Arthur replied.

"Very well, Arthur. I shall show you, and Roy, what you need to know," Merlin told us. He then cleared his throat. "First, you must learn that wit is more important than strength."

"…wit? More important than strength?" I asked. Then I collapsed in laughter. I couldn't stop laughing for fifteen minutes. How could wit be more important than strength?

"What is so darn funny?" Merlin asked. I was finally able to get up, and stopped laughing.

"I'm sorry… it's just that in all my battles, all that really mattered was power… if you were stronger, you won. Period," I said. "To think that wit could be more important than strength… for me, it's absurd."

"Well, then, you shall learn this lesson well. Alakazam!" he shouted, pointing his wand at us. In a flash of light, I was turned into…

A weasel.

Yes, a weasel. Looking up, I saw Merlin. He was huge compared to me! I looked down at my tiny paws. Then Merlin shot a small magic blast at me, and I scurried off. After climbing a tree, I didn't know what to do. If I went over by Merlin again, he'd probably just shoot at me with another magic blast. What to do, what to do…

Unfortunately for me, a fox soon came up to the tree I was hiding in. It came snapping up at me, but I narrowly dodged said fox. I knew I didn't have enough strength to beat it in a fair fight. Dashing down the tree, I quickly dug a hole and hid in it. The fox quickly went over to my hole, though, and was snapping at that soon. I dug around and up, making an exit. Before I could get away, though, the fox was on me and I was forced to retreat into my small tunnel.

_I gotta get out of here_, I thought to myself, _but how?_ I needed a plan, and I quickly came up with one. From the rough center of my tunnel, I dug another tunnel, making a 4-way intersection. I went over to one of the new entrances and popped my head out. The fox instantly came over by me, but I ducked back in quickly. I did this several times in a pattern before breaking the pattern and running off.

I found Merlin and was quickly turned back into a human. Jason and Riku were already (still?) there.

"My word, that took you a long time! Wart has already learned another lesson!" Merlin said as I was changed back.

"And what lesson is that?" I asked.

"Love," he told me,"and now you must do the same," Merlin said, raising his wand.

"Wait!" Jason shouted. "We don't need to learn about love, 'cuz we know the difference between love and infatuation. We're eighteen."

"Except me. I'm seventeen," Riku piped in.

"Very well," Merlin said," I can see your point."

"Then what's next?" Riku asked.

"I shall change you into your animal incarnations," Merlin said.

"Animal incarnation?" I asked.

"Yes, you see, every human has an animal they are most like," Merlin explained. "If you know what animal that is, you may come to realize something about yourself."

"Okay, what do we do?" Jason asked.

"Simply clear your minds and close your eyes. I shall do the rest," Merlin said. We did so, and after another flash of light, I opened my eyes. Ironically, I didn't feel any different than last time… save a whole lot stronger.

I looked over on my left to see a grey wolf, and on my right was a red fox. I could tell the wolf was Riku, and the fox was Jason.

"Now, while you may realize what Riku and Jason are, none of you can figure out what Roy is, can you?" Merlin asked.

We all did our best to shake our heads.

"Roy is a wolverine. Fierce and strong," he said. "Now scurry along until I can find that blasted Wart."

I hopped on Riku, and we began wandering around the woods. We encountered a few groups of Heartless, but they were nothing to worry about. We eventually came across a small shack, where it seemed Merlin was arguing with a pink-haired woman.

We sat down on a log (except Riku, who sat beside the log) and watched the two throw magic spells at each other. It was really pretty amusing. If I could have laughed, I would have. In the end, it seemed like Merlin was overpowered, as the woman had turned herself into a pink dragon.

"I'll leave this to you for a moment!" Merlin shouted, running past us. I looked back at him in disbelief as he dashed into the woods. Soon the dragon was at our log, and kneeled down to stare me in the eyes. I didn't flinch.

After a few seconds of staring down a dragon, I attacked her full-on. Jason and Riku had also charged at her, as I could tell from their snarls. I attacked her face, narrowly dodging jaws and flame breath, I scratched at her eyes. That just pissed her off.

I slid down her back, then picked her up by the tail (yes, I was that strong). After swinging her around a couple times, and after Jason and Riku had jumped off, I threw her. The dragon went crashing into the hut, and a small bird flew out of it. Merlin promptly came running back in, dashed over to the wrecked shack.

A moment later he came out. He then zapped the bird with a spell, who quickly became Arthur again.

"So have I learned enough?" Arthur asked.

"Not enough. I have more lessons for you," Merlin said, ignoring us.

"But I want to go!" Arthur protested.

"Well, blast me to Bermuda…" Merlin began shouting, but subsequently disappeared.

"Wow! How lucky!" Arthur exclaimed, then went running off. I looked at Jason and Riku, and we followed him. Going across grassy fields, Arthur eventually stopped in a house, then came back out with a knight on a horse. We continued our pursuit. Eventually we came to London, where every house was empty. Merlin finally reappeared and turned us back into our human selves.

"Blast, I've wasted time! Forgive me for leaving you like that," he said.

"Fine, fine… I'm just glad I got my shoes back!" I said. "Well, have we learned enough?"

"Yes… but before you go, I have one last request of you. Watch the tournament to decide the King of England," Merlin instructed us.

"Yeah, yeah…" Jason muttered as we walked off. We went and found a few seats, despite stares from the locals (because of our weird clothes). It was a simple jousting tournament with swords. After a few rounds, a man named Kay was up next, but instead came out with Arthur, who was holding a slightly glowing white sword.

Moments before they said anything, Heartless came attacking.

"You guys know what we have to do!" I shouted, jumping down into the stadium. The entire arena was in disarray as we drew our weapons. There was nothing but basic Shadows, but their number was staggering, to say the least. In the end, a Darkside came after us. It was awfully strong, so I used my True Form to quickly finish it off by decapitation.

"Let's get out of here!" Riku yelled, and we all beamed up to the Gummi Ship, assured our newfound wisdom would be enough.


	24. 22: The Realm of Darkness Prelude

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Realm of Darkness –_Prelude_–**

"So, what now? Merlin was no use to me," Jason complained.

"He… taught me a little about myself," I said.

"Me, too," Riku said. "We still need a course of action, though."

"We need a way into the Realm of Darkness… or at least The World that Never Was," I thought. "Hm… the mansion's destroyed. What other way is there?"

"Well, we could try sifting through the rubble of the mansion. The basement might still be intact," Jason suggested.

"There's no telling how long that could take," Riku said. "We don't have that kind of time."

"Well… two years ago, when I first felt the rumblings of my True Form, I was thrown into the Realm of Darkness after I parried a hit from my ultimate opponent. Maybe that could work?" I asked.

"Anything's worth a shot," Riku said. "All right, get into that state."

I upped my strength so that I was standing on the fringes of my True Form; just below the level required to use it. Riku and Jason then summoned their Keyblades, and I held my Phoenix Sword up to parry the blows. Sure enough, I was blasted into the Realm of Darkness, and grabbed onto Jason and Riku's Keyblades moments before I was thrown into the darkness. After a rough landing, we stood up to find ourselves at the beach Sora and Riku had sat at a year ago.

"Looks like it worked. Let's go!" I shouted. We then began to wander across the Realm of Darkness, as I had done so two years ago (to me). There were thousands of Heartless, and we were forced to slay them all. After a couple days of meandering, we began to despair (partly due to the dismal nature of the world) until we came across a chasm.

"What's that?" Riku asked, pointing to a couple of red ropes suspended over the chasm. We walked over to find not only the glowing red ropes, but small planks of wood suspended between them.

"Looks like some form of transportation. Roy, you said you wandered in here for a year, but you didn't find this?" Jason asked.

"I'm smart enough not to go into some places," I told them. "Besides, what fun would it be if I knew where everything was?"

"You've got a point. Well, what should we do?" Jason asked.

"Go across, duh," I said.

"What? Are you crazy? We don't even know how deep that hole is!" Jason complained.

"There's no point staying here," Riku said. "Are you saying you're afraid?"

"No, but… hey, wait! What the hell are you doing, Roy!" Jason shouted after I had jumped on one of the suspended planks and began coasting between the red wires. I immediately regretted doing so. The wire sloped downward at a great angle; likely 70 degrees or more.

"This is not good!" I shouted as the rail began to helix. I totally got into the zone after that; even upside down, I began to master the boarding. The major trick was to stay balanced; the rest was cake. I enjoyed the exhilarating rush down steep hills, upside down, around tight corners, and through tunnels (which I had to duck to get under) until the rail stopped abruptly. I jumped off it and watched my plank go flying into some part of a castle.

I walked up to the stairs leading up to the castle. Staring at a glowing, white orb in the courtyard, I heard another board go flying past me, only to shatter against the stairs. Moments later, another board went flying past, this time accompanied by girlish screams.

"What the…" I began, turning around. I saw Riku standing there, staring at Jason, who was cowering on the ground.

"Get up, man. It's nothing to be afraid of," Riku said to him. I walked over and waited.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't have to follow me, ya know," I told him. "Don't copy every reckless thing I do!"

"Yeah, but that was… scary…" he said, getting up. "Where are we, anyways?"

"I'd suppose we're at Senka's stronghold. But what's that glowing orb on the steps?" Riku asked.

"It could only be…" I started.

"What?" Jason asked.

"… Sora," I said. "You guys know what we have to do?"

"… yes," Riku answered.

"I'll do what I must," Jason replied.

"Then… let's go," I said, walking up the stairs and into the orb of light...


	25. 23: Roy vs Sora

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Roy vs. Sora –_Epic_-**

**Part I – Spring**

After entering the orb of light, Riku, Jason, and I found ourselves in a grassy field. The horizon and sky were white, and in the center of the field stood four cherry trees, all in bloom. I could faintly see Sora standing in the center, his back turned to us.

"You guys… are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked them.

"Yes. Sora saved me… I can save him," Riku answered.

"Even if I'm not ready, it's coming," Jason said. "I won't hesitate any longer."

"He'll try and turn us to the darkness, as well. Riku… do you think we'll be able to resist?" I asked him.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. But we can't stand around any more! Now is the time to act!" he shouted.

"… okay. Let's go," I said, walking forward. As we walked across the large, open field, the wind blew, ruffling my hair and making some of the cherry blossoms blow around. We slowed our walk as we approached the center of the field, ready for mental combat.

"You guys finally made it. So, what took you so long?" Sora asked as we approached him.

"Oh, we just had a few things to do, a few Heartless to kill, ya know, the stuff you're supposed to do?" I asked back.

"What I'm supposed to do? It's your fault all of this happened, so don't go making obligations," Sora said back.

"Who's making obligations? Sure, it's my fault, but that doesn't mean you have to turn to the darkness," I told him.

"Turn to the darkness? No, I haven't turned to the darkness. But I wouldn't expect you to understand why I'm helping Senka," he said.

"It's… because you love Kairi, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically. A few moments of silence went by as the wind blew an audible gust past the cherry trees.

"Yes, it's because… Kairi," he answered. "None of you understand how I feel," Sora said with contempt in his voice.

"I can't say I do understand," Riku said, "but I do know Kairi would reject you as you are."

"Sora… Kairi's your friend. But more importantly, she loves you. You… can't let your passion blind you," Jason told him.

"Blind passion? I'd be careful of who I lectured on that, Jason. She's got Serenity, too, ya know," Sora revealed.

"What? She's got Serenity? How can I save her?" Jason asked furiously.

"Help me defeat Roy and Riku," he said, "and Senka will let her go." At this uttering, Jason ferociously attacked Riku, and they both summoned their Keyblades. Riku managed to block the attack, but was thrown out of the orb of light. Jason went charging out at him.

"So now it's just you and me, Roy. So, whadda ya say we start out easy?" Sora asked, summoning his Keyblade.

"I'd like one last word before we begin. And just so you know, this is where I really come into my own: in single combat," I replied.

"Fine, say your death prayer," Sora sneered.

"If you throw away one friend, does another have any value?" I asked him, drawing my Phoenix Sword and pointing it at him.

"Well… I can't… I just…" Sora muttered, holding his head in his hands. "HYAAAAAAH!" he shouted, charging at me. I got into my ready stance.

**Part II – Summer**

Sora's first attack was a simple vertical slash, which I easily parried. I returned the attack by swiping at his feet. Sora was easily able to backstep and dodge it, then attacked me again, this time with a diagonal slash meant to hit my shoulder. I parried it, sending his Keyblade flying out of his hands. Moments later, the grass changed to a dry yellow.

"I'm the better swordsman here," I told Sora, sheathing my Phoenix Sword.

"Yeah, right. Come on," he replied, pulling out the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Roxas-style.

I only scoffed as he charged at me. I quickly used an iaijutsu to block the attack, then to parry the second hit. Jumping up, I came down hard on Sora's Keyblades, only to be blocked and thrown aside. Doing a backflip in the air, I skidded until I almost hit a tree, then blocked one of Sora's charging hits.

We did a few sets of quick attacks and parries, followed by an improvisational batto-jutsu from me. Sora dodged the attack, but I cleverly used my saya to block the inevitable parry. Then I jumped into the air to come down hard on Sora again, only to be blocked and sent flying against a tree. I landed on the tree, and used the momentum to ferociously attack Sora. He wasn't easily able to block the attack due to the speed at which I moved, and was sent flying near the center of the field.

I re-sheathed my sword for a batto-jutsu or an iaijutsu just as Sora shot fire magic at me. I dodged it easily, but the grass behind me was set ablaze. I charged at Sora, using a batto-jutsu that he dodged. I once again used the saya to block his parries.

"You've resorted to using your sheath to block and you've only got one good hit in. Still think you can beat me?" Sora sneered.

"Neither of us is using our whole strength. So whadda ya say we really turn things up?" I asked, going to the fringes of my True Form and overpowering him.

"Okay, fine," Sora said, upping himself to his Master Form. Moments later, in a dark flash, his Master Form went from yellow to purple.

-NEW Ability!-  
Sora: Dark Master Form – Sora's Master Form, twisted by the powers of darkness. His clothes are purple, and Sora possesses strength and speed just beyond his normal Final Form in this form.

"Then, bring it on!" I shouted, going into my True Form and the highest strength I could use at that level, causing small amounts of white lightning to surge around me.

**Part III – Autumn**

"Now, let's play!" Sora shouted, rushing at me. I easily dodged his attack, countering with a good parry. His offhand Keyblade moved to attack me, but I jumped above it. Sora then attacked me again, but I jumped over it, and stood on it. While we were attacking, the trees' leaves changed to fall colors.

"So, is this all you can do? I'm disappointed…" I taunted him.

"Hmph. I'm not trying," he taunted back, making is offhand Keyblade float in to attack me. I jumped off his Keyblade and behind him, doing a swift 90 degree turn. Sora blocked it with Protega. I backed off, now somewhat unsure of what to do with his use of magic.

"Doubting yourself, huh?" he asked as he charged at me. I hesitantly attacked his feet, then parried a blow from his offhanded Keyblade. I got down on my hand and pivoted around, swiping at his feet. Sora protected himself with Protega again, but my sword managed to slightly pierce his shield.

"I see…" I muttered to myself, now understanding the barrier in his seemingly absolute defense. I then backed off for a moment. I then charged at Sora, dual-wielding my sword and saya. I blocked one blow with my sword, then attacked him with my saya. He raised Protega to protect himself. I then drove my sword through the barrier, knowing if he wasn't concentrating on the attack, he wouldn't be able to totally protect himself.

My blade, having gone through the guard afforded by Protega, knocked Sora to the fringes of the area. He soon got up and shouted, going beyond his Master Form… up into his Final Form, which also was corrupted seconds after his usage of the form. It changed from its usual chrome silver to a shiny black.

-NEW Ability!-  
Sora: Dark Final Form – Sora's Final Form, twisted by the power of darkness. The clothes' color scheme is reversed, and in the form, Sora possesses abilities far beyond the normal Final Form.

In an instant, Sora was hovering in front of me, staring deep into my eyes. I could practically feel the malice he exuded.

"It's over. I'm ending this now," Sora said coldly.

**Part IV – Winter**

With Sora's cold declaration, the area became covered in a thick snow. It was steadily falling, stinging my eyes slightly. I was also somewhat exhausted, seeing my heavy breaths in the cold air.

He attacked me, disappearing behind me and jabbing me in the back with his Keyblades. I did my best to parry the hits, but it was just too fast. I was thrown into a tree, then assaulted with a barrage of random thrusts. I parried some, but was still impaled with Keyblades more than a few times.

I then dodged to the side, and Sora's Keyblades got stuck in the tree, giving me a few seconds to get some distance and prepare an iaijutsu. Sora came charging at me moments later, and I used the iaijutsu to block one attack, then attempt a parry. Sora's second Keyblade had struck me in the shin, though, and I fell down on the snow. I was then forced to roll around, dodging Sora's constant thrusts into the ground. I eventually recovered, then charged at him.

Sora used his two Keyblades as a whirring defense. I blocked one, then jumped over him to attack from behind. His Keyblades were between my arms before I could attack.

"That's enough. This battle's over," he said. "If you leave now, I won't hurt you any further."

"I'm… not leaving!" I shouted through heavy breaths. "I refuse to… let you walk this… path!"

"Then… so be it," Sora said coldy, going in for the deathblow. I closed my eyes, ready for what seemed like the end, when I heard a loud _CLANG_!

I opened my eyes to find a red-wrapped katana blocking the blow from Sora's Oblivion. It was…

"Amy! What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted at her, getting back on my feet while Sora backed off.

"I couldn't just let you go fight Sora alone! You'd probably end up killing him!" she said back.

"I wasn't going to kill him… at least, not on purpose…" I muttered.

"Exactly. You'd probably end up recklessly killing him," Amy told me. "Here he comes!"

Sora apparently didn't want to give us a few moments of reunion. He attacked me with his Oblivion and Amy with his Oathkeeper. We did our best to block and parry his hits, Amy dual-wielding. We got in what seemed to be a few blows, but those attacks were quickly blocked with a Protega.

The counterattack sent Amy flying into a tree. Before I could react, he was all over her. I could only look on helplessly as Sora beat her over and over… I began to lose myself…

**Part V – The Hitokiri**

When I regained myself, I was holding Amy's body in my arms. She was either passed out or…

"Now that you've had your little outburst, let's get back to the main event," Sora taunted.

"Shut up! None of that matters anymore… my throat is dry… my eyes are burning… my heart feels like it's about to explode!" I yelled at Sora through tears.

"You know, you're the one who did it," Sora told me.

"I know. And that only makes it worse… I wanted to be a hero. More than anything…" I told Sora, baring my soul. "I wanted to be a hero… because heroes protect the ones they love. I… could never do that, and that's why I'm not a hero."

"A hero…" Sora said quietly.

"I'm no hero. So instead…" I said, building my power to its breaking point, and unleashing a new transformation, "I'll take on the title of hitokiri!"

-NEW Ability!-  
Roy: Aether Form – Roy's form beyond his True Form. It is immensely powerful and blindingly fast, allowing Roy to attack at speeds almost invisible to the naked eye. Its power rises until it reaches an apex, the Limits of Power, whence Roy loses the form. In this form, Roy's eyes return to their normal color, and his hair becomes slightly tinted blue (from its True Form snow white). White lightning constantly surges from him, increasing in size and frequency the longer he is in this form.

"What… what are you!" Sora shouted as wind from my energy blew past him. I sheathed my blade and turned around to face him.

"You… you're not the Roy of moments ago!" Sora yelled as I stood there, waiting for his move.

Part VI – Finale

I closed my eyes, placing my left hand on my saya and making a pose with my right hand, which I held in front of my face. I opened my eyes, seeing Sora blazing at me from my left. I quickly used an iaijutsu to block the attack, then warped behind him. I had fused my Keyblade with my Phoenix Sword in that instant.

-NEW Weapon!-  
Roy: Gaia's Edge – essentially, the Phoenix Sword with a Keyblade-like indentation at the tip of the blade. It can latch onto Keyblades, allowing for a variety of offensive or defensive moves.

We attacked and parried for a few seconds, though it seemed as if Sora was moving in slow-motion. We then attacked each other, our blows matching. I eventually latched my blade onto his Oathkeeper, casting it aside. I hit him in the shoulders before Sora was able to block one of my blows.

"That's… impossible!" Sora shouted before I hit him in the neck. I made sure to soften the blow so he wouldn't be killed. I warped over to him and knocked him into the air. I then proceeded to beat him around in a trine formation, my strength upping with each blow. Eventually I knocked him above the apex of the trine, hesitated for a moment, then hit him on the head with the flat of the blade, sending Sora flying down into the snow below.

-NEW Attack!-  
Roy: Grand Trine – an overbearing move that can only be executed properly in Roy's Aether Form due to the speeds involved. It is simply Roy knocking his opponent into the air, then knocking them around in a trine formation for 31 hits, then knocking his opponent into the center of the trine. The 32nd blow knocks them above the trine, and a 33rd blow knocks them to the ground. Roy can make the move lethal or nonlethal by using the blade or flat of his sword, respectively.

I fell to the ground, landing smoothly, but was then exhausted. I had lost my new form, and kneeled with my knee and sword in the snow. I looked up just in time to see Sora's Protega shield fading. Through my heavy breathing, I could tell this battle couldn't be won with strength, but with words.

"That was… brutal," Sora said, hovering over to me. "One more hit and I probably would have lost! But now, it's time to end this," he said, hitting both my arms with his Keyblades, dislocating them. I jumped back, placed my sword in the ground, then picked it up in my mouth.

"I'll ask you again; if you throw away one friend, does another have any value?" I asked again. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped hovering over to me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You… betrayed everyone… all your friends in search of Kairi," I said. "If you threw away them, what makes you so sure you won't throw Kairi away?"

"Because…" he said, hesitating. "Kairi's…"

"You love her, don't you? If I've learned anything…" I said, "it's that love can save you, not condemn you."

"What's that mean?" he asked.

"I… loved Amy. And that's what stopped me from going all-out. Come on, Sora. Let's find a way to save Kairi… together."

"But I… I betrayed everybody," Sora said, dropping his Dark Final Form. "I don't have any friends left."

"I never offered before, but neither did you…"

"What?"

"Friends?" I asked him.

"… friends," Sora said, taking my outstretched hand and helping me up. The snow and sky faded…


	26. 24: Fragments of Light

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Fragments of Light**

"Roy…" Sora said, slowly walking up to me. I barely stood, exhausted, and gritted my teeth while I sheathed my sword.

"Don't worry about it. We… we all have trying times. But don't forget the darkness," I told him. "Remember that darkness, remember what it made you. Turn away from that."

"I'll… try. We need to get out of here, anyway," Sora said, breathing heavily as well.

"You guys…" Riku said, walking up to us.

"Hey, Riku. So, what happened with Jason?" I asked, knowing to some degree what had happened.

"He fell down that chasm while we were fighting. I guess I'm stronger than he was, and after blocking an attack of mine, skidded back and fell down that canyon," Riku muttered. "Sorry."

I shook my head. "We're in more trouble now…" I muttered under my breath.

"You say something?" Sora asked me.

"… no, it's nothing. Well, what do we do now?" I asked back.

"Well, we need to get into Senka's fortress. That way, we can rescue Kairi and Jason's girlfriend…" Riku said.

"Her name's Serenity," I reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, Sora, what do you know about this fortress? You were here for a while," Riku said.

"Well, I don't know much about it, really. Senka told me to stay here and wait for you guys, and I did. I don't even know how to open the door," Sora answered.

"Let's check it out, then," I said, staggering up the rest of the steps. When we reached the top of the stairs, the castle gate, we were baffled. What stood before us was a great wall of darkness. It was seething darkness, pure and untainted by the light.

"It's… darkness. Pure darkness," Riku said, holding his hand out.

"Wait! Don't touch it. It'll taint your soul," I told him.

"My soul's already tainted," he said, barely touching it. He turned around, and I could see his eyes had turned yellow.

_Just like Xehanort_, I thought. _Just like me…_

"It's definitely no good," Riku said as his eyes returned to normal. "We won't be able to get past this… at least, not as we are."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Simple. If we touch it, we give in to our inner darkness. If we went through it now, we'd become puppets of the darkness," I explained.

"So what do we do?" Sora asked.

"There's one way. Light," Riku said. "Pure light."

"We could find some at a world's heart, I suppose…" Sora said.

"There's the first good idea you've had!" I teased Sora. "Well, even if we did have a fragment of pure light, what would we keep it in? Light's just like darkness; mutable," I said. We all stood there, thinking for a moment.

"How about the Struggle crystals? If we got them, then went to a world's heart while sealing it, we could get the shards of light and temporarily dissipate this barrier," I suggested.

"It's the best shot we've got. To Twilight Town!" Sora shouted.

"Wait just a second. Can I get my arms reset first?" I asked.

"Uh… yeah… sorry about that," Sora apologized.

"Don't worry about it," I said with a smile. "Let's just go." We did so, beaming up to our Gummi Ship (now that we knew where we were). After a quick visit to the Radiant Garden, wherein I got Aerith to fix my arms, we went to Twilight Town.

The sweltering summer heat was brutal. I surmised it must have been a few months since I set out on this new journey. Despite the fact that it was quite late to enter the Struggle, we found the organizer soon.

"Hey, dude. We want to enter the Struggle," I said to him.

"Well, the preliminary rounds are about to begin. I've only got one spot left, though…" He muttered.

We huddled together for a moment.

"So, who's going to enter?" Riku asked.

"Why not you? You're pretty strong," I suggested.

"Well, I don't feel like fighting little kids. What about you, Sora?" Riku asked.

"I already beat all these guys a year ago," he said. "It'd be too easy."

"Well, it'd be too easy for me as well! I'm in a whole different league from these guys!" I complained.

"Well, then let's vote. All in favor of Roy entering?" Sora asked.

Both he and Riku rose their hands.

"Dammit…" I muttered, walking back over to the organizer, defeated.

"So, you're going to enter?" he asked.

"Yeah…" I muttered.

"Well, what's your name?" he asked me.

"… Eliwood. Sign me up as Eliwood," I told him.

He took out a clipboard and wrote down my alias on it. "Eliwood… right… well, meet at the sandlot in an hour for the prelims," he told me.

I puttered around town for a while, then went to the sandlot for the prelims. Not many people were there yet. The stage wasn't even up.

"Here in the prelims you're slated to battle Vivi. So, are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, whenever he is," I answered.

"Just a moment. I'm going to have to ask you to leave your weapon on the bench. No real weapons here," he told me, motioning toward Gaia's Edge.

"All right…" I muttered, somewhat exasperated. I set my weapon down on a bench and got a Struggle club. Vivi shuffled into the area minutes later.

"Now, I want a good, clean fight," the organizer told us.

"Yeah, yeah…" I muttered.

"A-all right…" Vivi said doubtfully.

"Then… LET'S STRUGGLE!" the organizer shouted. Vivi hesitantly approached me. I whacked him in the head once and knocked him out.

"Wow… that was fast," I heard Hayner say. I turned around to see him looking at me. I wasn't sure if he was impressed or if he wanted to beat me up.

"It was way easy," I said, walking off.

A day later, I walked in as the tournament was starting. People were cheering. I could see Sora and Riku sitting on a bench. The announcer was finishing up his speech.

"… and the mysterious stranger Eliwood! His sudden appearance and dominating performance in the preliminary rounds have made Eliwood the contestant to beat!" the announcer shouted.

"First off, Hayner and Seifer! Seifer's always been a tough opponent, but recently Hayner's been getting better? Who will win?" the announcer shouted into the mic. The organizer went to the two standing in the ring, gave them the standard 'clean fight' speech, and shouted for the match to begin.

The fight was intense. Just before time was up, it looked like Seifer was about to win. But in a last-minute comeback, Hayner gave him a few good hits, got more orbs, and won the match.

"What a surprise! In a comeback victory, Hayner has defeated Seifer! Unbelievable!" the announcer managed to shout over the crowd's cheering. "Next up, Rai vs. Eliwood!"

Rai and I walked into the center of the stage, Struggle clubs in hand. He looked at me with that dull look… the look of a tough, dumb goon.

"And now it's time for the second bout; Rai vs. Eliwood! Rai has always been a tough competitor, but the mysterious stranger, Eliwood, one the preliminary round with one hit! Who will win?" he shouted into the mic over the crowd's shouting.

"Okay, you two. I want a good, clean fight," he said, stepping out. "LET'S STRUGGLE!"

I walked straight up to Rai and hit him in the shoulder before he could react. I grabbed the orbs that fell and then slowly walked up to him again. He swung at me, but I easily dodged it and hit him again, sending him flying out of the ring.

"Amazing! Eliwood continues to dominate the opposition! Rai clearly stood no chance against him!" the announcer shouted to the mic while the crowd roared. I saw Sora and Riku standing up, shouting my real name at the top of their lungs.

"Next up is the final round! We'll be back after a short intermission!" the announcer yelled. I went over to Sora and Riku, who were still shouting my real name (despite the fact nobody could hear them over the roar of the crowd).

"So, how goes the Struggle, 'Eliwood?'" Sora teased.

"You saw. This is no fun… at all…" I complained.

"You're not doing this for sport. We're here to get the crystals, remember?" Riku reminded me.

"Yeah, yeah… well, I need to get back," I muttered, walking off.

"Wait. Why did you enter with a different name?" Riku asked.

"… because…" I muttered, walking off.

"Now, it's time for the finals! Will victory smile on the local favorite, Hayner? Or will the newcomer Eliwood come out on top? It's time for the final round!" the announcer shouted. "Let's get ready to STRUGGLE!" The crowd went wild.

"So, you made it after all," Hayner said with a smile. "Let's have a fun time, okay?"

"Fun? This… is no fun…" I muttered.

The referee/organizer gave a 'clean fight' speech to us, then shouted STRUGGLE!

Hayner and I circled around the arena, looking each other in the eyes. I made sure to let him make the first move. He approached me and attempted a wild swing, which I easily parried. The force from my parry made him drop a few orbs and go flying, but he skidded just before falling out. The crowd roared.

"I guess I underestimated you…" I said to myself. "Okay, let's get serious!"

I got into my usual fighting stance (I had been simply slouching before) and approached Hayner, who met me in the middle. I attacked him with a vertical swing, but he blocked it, despite the fact that he slipped backwards a little. Hayner then attempted a horizontal slash, but I blocked it.

From that position, we jumped back. I then ferociously charged at him, catching Hayner unawares. I got in a couple of good hits, knocking him out for a few moments. I proceeded to beat the rest of the orbs out of him, and won the match.

"It's unprecedented! A newcomer has won the Struggle!" the announcer shouted, barely audible over the roar of the crowd. I looked into the crowd, which was in an uproar. They were all shouting my 'name.'

The organizer went and got the trophy for me. I held it up, basking in my glory… even though it wasn't too glorious.

I plucked the crystals off and pocketed them before the sky went grey. Nobodies began appearing and attacked the residents. They fled, but Sora and Riku remained. I tried to hit them with the club, but it was ineffective.

"Roy! Your sword!" Riku shouted, throwing Gaia's Edge at me. I caught it and opened a can of whoop-ass, not holding back at all any longer. The Nobodies stormed and stormed, ending with a Twilight Thorn. Yeah… the Twilight Thorn was nothing, considering there was a hero, a hitokiri, and a twilight hero all fighting it at the same time.

I beamed back up to the ship before anyone could come and start asking things. I left the Blue Crystal with Sora.

hitokiri – Japanese for "manslayer." Literally translates to "human slayer."


	27. 25: Of Gods and Demons

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Gods and Demons**

"Hey, Roy! I've got my Fragment of Light already!" Sora said after he beamed up, showing me the shining blue crystal.

"Well, that's one down. Where next?" I asked.

"Well… we've locked all the worlds we've been to… except the Radiant Garden. So none of those are an option," Riku said.

"We'll just have to find another world," I said. "Didn't we find a few while we were looking for Merlin, Riku?"

"Yeah, a few. Let's go look for the Keyhole in one of those worlds," Riku suggested.

"Sounds good," Sora agreed. I took up the captain's seat again, and began zooming around space. We found one soon… it looked like a Japanese countryside.

"Whoa! Where… are we?" Sora asked, looking around. The starry sky was out with a crescent moon shining down on us. I looked on the horizon, faintly seeing an iron forge. I could tell from the glow (I knew the glow of molten metal) and the soot coming from the encampment.

"Metal… I smell it," I said. "It's molten. What could they be doing there?"

"Who knows? We'll have to go there to find out," Sora said.

"I suppose you're right. Well, then, let's go," I said. We began our walk across the land. It was quiet and peaceful, despite the banging in the small town ahead. I felt the wind blowing through my hair, calming me. Even as we approached the noisy town, I was totally at peace.

I managed to shove the massive gate opened, sneaked through it with Sora and Riku, then closed it silently. Nobody seemed to be around. We sneaked around the town, using our minor stealth skills to avoid attention, until we saw a large crowd. We could hear them shouting loudly, though I had no idea what they were yelling about.

The crowd of people were shouting and cheering, though I didn't know what for. Looking around, Riku, Sora and I jumped onto a roof to get a better view of the event. There were two women fighting; one younger, about my age, and an older woman. The younger girl was dressed wildly, but the older woman wore a kimono.

"Whoa… what's going on?" Sora asked.

"How should I know? Maybe they're fighting for fun," I answered. It became apparent that they weren't fighting for sport, as the younger girl was soon outmatched.

"We've got to help her!" Sora shouted, barely audible over the crowd's yelling. The wild girl looked desperate. She was knocked out moments later. A boy wearing blue gi then stepped forward.

"Don't hurt her! Leave her alone!" he shouted at the townspeople, who now had guns pointed at the unconscious girl. He picked her up and began walking toward the gate we had entered. Somebody shot him in the arm, on accident or on purpose, but he didn't seem to notice it. The boy shoved the massive door opened and disappeared.

"Whoa… that guy's strong. At least as strong as you, Roy," Riku said. Unfortunately for us, with the fight over, an eerie silence had fallen. The people all looked over at us, still seated on the roof.

"Ninjas! Ninjas have come to assassinate Lady Eboshi!" a guardsman shouted. A few rifles were shot at us.

"Dammit! Get out of here, guys!" I shouted at Sora and Riku.

"But Roy…" Sora began.

"You know I can handle myself. So don't worry about me. Just go find that other guy!" I shouted again, and jumped down into the clear dueling circle. I unsheathed my sword and looked at all of the people. They were all women…

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sora and Riku stealthily moving across the roofs to the town gate. They'll be fine, I thought to myself.

"So, one ninja is going to save his comrades? Kill him!" the guardsman shouted. I simply stood still while he charged at me with his lance. I narrowly dodged it on purpose.

"Don't mistake me for a ninja," I said, pummeling him in the head with the pommel of my sword. "I am… hitokiri."

"Hitokiri? There are no hitokiri around now," a woman said, stepping forward.

"Well I'm a new one. A self-proclaimed one, but a hitokiri nonetheless," I said. "I… am **Hitokiri Kensai**."

"Hitokiri…" she said. "We could use your help."

"Sorry, but I don't help people who attack defenseless women," I said, brandishing my sword. "Especially those who will kill defenseless women."

"Woman? That girl is no woman," the lady told me. By now, I had surmised that she was Lady Eboshi. "Princess Mononoke is a wolf."

"Wolves…" I muttered. "I'm still not helping you," I said, turning around and beginning to walk toward the town gate. As I had anticipated, Eboshi shouted for me to stop. I did so, but only out of curiosity.

"Please… help me. I need someone to protect this town!" Eboshi shouted. "If you don't help, the town itself will be destroyed. You can't just sit back and watch that!"

"Maybe not," I said. "But even so, if you can't protect yourselves, I'm not too sure you deserve to stay here," I said, turning my head so I could see Eboshi out of the corner of my eye. "It's ridiculous to think someone with more guns than I can count wouldn't be able to hold off a few samurai."

"How did you know?" Eboshi asked, puzzled.

"I can tell from where we are and when we are," I replied, walking off toward the town gate. I walked through the still-open gate into the starry, grassy plain.

I wandered for just a little while before finding Sora and Riku. They were hiding in the grass, though I couldn't see what from. I ducked down and did an army crawl up to where they were hiding.

"What's going on? Why are you guys hiding?" I whispered.

"Look," Sora said, pointing forward. There were two large wolves with the girl we had seen earlier. The girl was arguing with the wolves, which seemed to be intelligible and capable of speech. I couldn't make out what they were saying… though I was sure they weren't agreeing.

"What…" I began as the wolves ran off. Two large gorillas then came walking forward, also arguing with the girl. The gorillas left a few moments later.

"So, what now?" I asked as the girl (who I surmised was Princess Mononoke) walked off into the nearby forest with the boy and his elk. The boy himself was unconscious, and was riding atop his elk. The elk was being led by Mononoke.

"Let's follow her," Sora said.

"Sounds good. I don't have any ideas…" I muttered, getting up. We walked into the forest. It was a bit… unsettling. I kept feeling like there was something around me, even though nothing appeared to be there. I turned around swiftly after a few minutes of walking into the forest.

A small, white humanoid creature with big eyes was staring at me. It scurried off into the brush a second later.

"Roy? What is it?" Riku asked, turning around for a moment.

"It's… nothing," I sighed, turning back around and continuing to follow the girl's footsteps as best as I could. We continued to follow her until we reached a pond in the wee hours of the morning. I was exhausted, but wasn't worried about it. Finding out what was going on was more important than my sleepiness. Because finding out what was going on would lead us to the heart of the world, and then we'd get a Fragment of Light, bringing us one step closer…

"Roy! Let's hide behind that tree!" Sora whispered loudly. I did so, stumbling slightly from my exhaustion. Fortunately, my outfit camouflaged me in with the dark forest, and even though Mononoke had turned around, didn't catch a glimpse of any of us.

Princess Mononoke was now standing in the center of the pond, holding the unconscious boy in her arms as she walked up to a small island in the center of the pond. The boy's elk was following her as well, though it no longer had reins on it.

"Let's get up in this tree. Mononoke will see us when she's leaving if we don't," I said.

"Fine…" Riku muttered, and we clambered up into the tree while Mononoke continued to the island. She set the boy down and began to leave, but the elk stayed near the island. As Mononoke walked across the path we had come in on, she stopped.

"Come down, you three. I know you're there," she said, looking at the tree we had hidden in.

"Damn! I can't believe it…" I complained. I jumped out of the tree and landed smoothly on the path, staring straight into Mononoke's eyes. Sora and Riku jumped down a few seconds later.

"Leave now, or else," Mononoke said to us.

"Or what?" I asked, despite knowing the answer.

"I'll kill you," she said coldly. I could sense anger… hatred in her voice.

"You? Kill me? Not likely!" I laughed. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into." At that, Mononoke charged at me, shouting at the top of her lungs. I saw she was carrying a dagger.

I sidestepped, then sidestepped again after another attack. I jumped over Mononoke and landed behind her, putting my back to her.

"You reek of blood. What's your problem?" I asked, taunting her at the same time. Mononoke intended to spin around and impale me in the side, but I simply took a step forward.

"You…" she began, viciously attacking me again. I performed the opening iaido move and knocked the wind out of her with the pommel of my hilt.

"That'll suffice," I said. I slowly and stylishly sheathed my sword. "Pretty sad… forest girl here can't even lay a finger on me!"

"Roy, stop attacking people. There's no need for this!" Sora shouted at me.

"Yeah, yeah… whatever. She started it. So, are you okay?" I asked Princess Mononoke.

"Why… you…" she began.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you. Just lighten up a bit, okay?" I asked. "You… don't look like someone I'd want to have as my enemy."

"So, that's all it is? You're just like all the others!" Mononoke shouted at me, charging me again. She had intended to fully impale me in the stomach, but I turned around with proper timing to dodge it. I then used my sword, still in its sheath, to knock her against a nearby tree.

"Look… there's no reason for this," I told her. "I've done nothing to you. If anything, I helped you."

"How's that?" she asked, getting some breath back.

"Last night, back at that town, they were going to send soldiers after you and that boy," I told her. "I stalled them with words."

"That doesn't excuse what you've done!" Mononoke shouted at me.

"Well… let's see, first, let's get on a first-name basis. I'm Roy. What's your name?" I asked.

"… San," she replied simply.

"Well, San, I didn't do anything to you and you didn't do anything to me. So let's just get this behind us and move along," I suggested. She growled at me, but started walking down the path.

"So, what's your deal? We didn't do anything, and you attacked us on sight!" Sora said.

"Filthy humans…" San started, mumbling to herself under her breath. I couldn't hear what else she said, because I blacked out soon after that. I was exhausted…

"Ugh…" I muttered as I opened my eyes groggily. The sky was twilit, but not quite dusk. Sora and Riku were sitting on a log just outside of the forest, and I had awoken in a grassy field. I walked over to them quickly.

"So… what happened?" I asked them.

"Well, you passed out from exhaustion. We dragged you out here, even though San left us a while ago, and took turns taking naps. Then you woke up," Riku answered.

"So… did you guys see what's happened in the meantime?" I asked.

"Some giant boars went and attacked the town," Sora said, pointing at the town we had visited yesterday, which was on the horizon, "… but they got beat. Bad. After that, one really old-looking one got up and walked off. Guess he got lucky."

"Well, did you see which way he went?" I asked.

"Like everything besides people, he went into the forest," Riku repled.

"We have to go after him!" I shouted, charging toward the forest.

"Roy! Wait! A giant wolf said she'd…" Riku began, but I continued sprinting through the forest, now that I was no longer exhausted beyond belief. I blazed through the deep forest, noting the small, white humanoid creatures that appeared with each and every one of my steps.

I slowed down as I reached the area I knew was that small pond. I saw many boar-like creatures, but I knew these weren't boar. They had no legs, no eyes. I surmised someone had skinned them and was now wearing the skins as camouflage to avoid detection… but from what?

I made sure to tread lightly around those people. I hopped up into a tree soon and began flitting around the trees, acrobatically jumping around until I was around the pond. Whatever I saw… was horrifying.

Some… thing… was treading slowly through the lake. It looked like it might have once been a boar… but now, it was nothing but a demon. It was the only word I could find to describe it. It seemed boar-like in shape, but was little more than a mass of writhing black tentacles.

"This is…" I began, noting a large, white wolf that was digging through the demon. A blue robed boy… the one we had seen a day earlier, was also there, along with Eboshi. There was also some sort of stag creature… save for the fact it had the face of a baboon.

I stealthily moved over to Eboshi. I was soon just behind her as I heard a shot ring out. I saw the other boy with San in the water, shaking the black tendrils off her. I also saw the giant boar and wolf at rest on the island, but also…

The stag creature from before was missing its head… and also turning into some sort of demon, as well. It was distinctly humanoid, but far larger, with a dark purple hue. The demon appeared to be made of jelly. A few men quickly grabbed the head and stuffed it into a barrel, running off.

"Damn you…!" I shouted, blasting up into my Aether Form and dashing after them. I caught up to them in seconds.

"You idiots! Drop that barrel NOW!" I shouted, hearing a slight distortion in my voice.

"Aah! Another demon!" they shouted and continued running. I blazed after them, but something caught my eye. I turned around to see everything dying as black ooze crept over the entire forest. I also saw San and that boy running in the same direction as I was. It didn't look like they were going to make it…

I dashed back, grabbing both San and the boy by their wrists.

"You… you're familiar," San said.

"Just hold on tight! I shouted, making a great leap. Then I continued my mad dash, despite practically dragging San and the boy with me. We soon reached the group of men with the barrel.

"Here!" I yelled, stopping quickly. They grabbed the two men and opened the barrel while I held back the idiots. Sand and the other boy were soon holding up the head, despite being stained black with the ooze that was dripping off of it. As soon as that black ooze reached them, everything went bright…

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a grassy field at daybreak. Looking around, I saw San and the other boy talking. I also saw Sora and Riku running toward me.

"Roy! Something… happened," Sora said, gasping for air.

"What?" I asked.

"The town was destroyed," he answered.

"…" I didn't reply as I walked over to San and the boy, despite some minor protests from Sora and Riku.

"So the forest is safe now," San said. "Thanks for your help, but I won't be joining you."

"I'll still come to see you," the boy answered.

"So, what's goin' on?" I asked, rudely interjecting.

"…oh, it's you. Thanks for your help," San managed to say, though it seemed a bit forced.

"No problem. So everything's good now, right?" I asked.

"Yes. The forest will have to recover, but everything will be fine," she answered.

"Well, that's good," I said, feeling my Keyblade begin to react. A crystal dagger the boy was carrying began to float up, and my Keyblade appeared. I was soon at the heart of the world, and locked the world. But before I did so, I made sure to grab a Fragment of Light and keep it in my Red Crystal.

"What was that?" the boy asked.

"… nothing. I need to go now," I said.

"Wait!" he shouted. I stopped short.

"The name's Roy, if you're wondering," I answered without having to be asked.

"I'm Ashitaka," the boy answered.

"Nice to finally have a name, Ashitaka," I replied. I then walked off and, once out of their eyesight, beamed up to the Gummi Ship.

**Hitokiri Kensai** - roughly translates to "Manslayer Swordmaster." This is both homage to Ruroni Kenshin, a.k.a. Hitokiri Battosai, and a testament to Roy's awesome masterey of swords.


	28. 26: The Armada

**Chapter Twenty-Six: The Armada**

"So, I guess you got your Fragment of Light?" Riku asked after I had beamed up.

"Yes," I replied, holding up my shining, red crystal. "That's two down."

"So, what now?" Sora asked, reclining in his chair.

"We find another world. And then we get another Fragment of Light. Then…" I began.

"Then what?" Sora asked.

"… then we'll end this," I finished. Once again we began searching for new worlds, but this time received a personalized call from Squall.

"Riku, Sora, Roy. We need your help," he said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"I can't describe it. You'll have to come here for yourself," Squall said.

"We'll be right there," I replied. The call was over, and we quickly zoomed over to the Radiant Garden. When we had beamed down, they sky wasn't dark, but looking up, I could see only the corona of the sun.

"What… the…" Riku started, interrupted by Vincent yet again. He walked forward from behind us, then turned around.

"An armada from the darkness," Vincent said. "One of your greatest trials lies ahead…" he said, then jumped off.

"It could only be…" I began.

"Senka. I swear she'll pay!" Sora shouted.

"Calm down, you two. Let's go see Squall before you two do anything reckless," Riku suggested. We calmed ourselves, then went off to the castle. We encountered, once more, heavy resistance from Heartless. We then busted into the castle, where everyone was waiting with weapons drawn.

"So, you guys finally made it," Squall said after we stepped in. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

"Psh… we go wherever we're needed!" Sora jeered back.

"Well, we need help. There's…" he began.

"Yeah, yeah. There's an armada of Gummi Ships and we need to get rid of them," I said. "What else is new?"

"Wow. You guys catch on fast," Squall said.

"Nah, not really. Vincent told us," Riku said.

"Why does Vincent keep helping you guys? He's so undependable…" Yuffie complained.

"So, how do we get started? It looks like there's an awful lot of Gummi Ships… and knowing Senka, she won't give us too much time to get ready," I declared.

"We'll need Cid to train the townsfolk on how to fly Gummi Ships. We also need a lot of Gummi Blocks so we can make an armada of our own," Squall said.

"Yeah… that sounds right," Sora said. "Where do we find Gummi Blocks en masse?"

"… the Crystal Fissure. There are plenty of Gummi Blocks there," I said.

"All right. Everyone else will commence preparations for the counterattack. Move out, everyone!" Squall ordered.

"Yes, sir!" everybody said in unison. Sora, Riku and I then went off to the Crystal Fissure, encountering even more resistance from Heartless. When it seemed we were in the clear, we encountered something I was totally unprepared for.

"Who are you guys?" Sora jeered at several men who seemed to be mining Gummi Crystals and Blocks.

"It's them! Do as General Rashar commanded! Kill those three!" one of the men shouted, charging at us. All of his cohorts did the same, summoning… Dark Keyblades.

"What the hell!" I shouted, using an iaijutsu to block an attack. Sora, Riku and I were then embroiled in a short battle which involved the slaying of all of those Dark Keybladers.

"Who were those guys?" Riku asked, breathing heavily.

"They were… Dark Keybladers," I said. "It's the only explanation."

"Dark Keybladers?" Sora asked.

"… think about it," I said, proceeding to loot their bodies for Gummi Blocks. We then got all the Gummi Blocks from the surrounding area. Afterwards we went back to the castle.

"So you guys got them after all," Squall said, greeting us.

"Don't you ever say 'hi' positively?" Riku asked, somewhat aggravated.

"Whatever. We've got what we need, so now what?" I asked.

"Go to work upgrading your own ship. When we're ready, you'll know," Squall instructed.

"Okay. But let me give you one tip of advice," I said. "Appoint Cid as the General. He knows what he's doing."

"I'll think about it," Squall said as we beamed up. Sora, Riku and I quickly got to work upgrading our ship. After a couple of hours, we had a full Falcon Limit ship.

"Bwahaha! Let's see them get through this!" I shouted, taking the captain's seat.

"Glad you guys are ready!" I heard Cid's gruff voice say over the comm. We turned around to see an armada of Gummi Ships. Though not as massive as Senka's, hopefully it would be enough, with Cid's superior experience. Most of the ships were, of course, personalized models. The rest, I suppose, were mass-built ones piloted by the locals.

"So, let's get down to it. I'm appointing you three leaders of Gold Squadron. You've got a dozen ships, plus yourselves, to work with," Cid said.

"All right! What do we do?" Sora asked.

"Follow my orders to the dot! You got that?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir!" we all shouted in unison.

"Okay! You guys'll take the left flank. We need to get to that massive ship in the center! Blue and Purple Squadrons will back you up," Cid instructed.

"Yes, Sir!" we shouted again.

"All right! Move out!" Cid commanded. We got down to our seats and began flying at the armada that was straight in front of us. I noticed our backup.

Lasers began flying every which way in seconds. It's tough to describe a space battle… it was fierce and intense, though. Half of our squadron was down before we heard Cid's familiar voice on the comm.

"What the #&$/ are you guys doin'? I told you to fight them, not get killed!" he shouted at us.

"Sorry, it's just… there's too many!" I yelled into the comm., barely audible over the blasting lasers.

"Okay, then here's what we'll do. Gold Squadron, pull out!" Cid shouted.

"But Cid…" Riku began.

"Gold Leader, stay your course! Get aboard that leviathan!" Cid instructed us.

"Y-yes, Sir!" Riku shouted somewhat shakily. We then fought our way through the armada single handedly while fighting hundreds of Gummi Ships. I suppose the quality of our ship helped a lot, though.

When we had nearly reached the leviathan of a ship, a huge explosion rocked our own ship.

"Dammit… engines are down!" I reported.

"We're sitting ducks in a hornet's nest! Someone's gotta go fix the engines!" Sora shouted, but I was already dashing down the corridors. I upped my strength to my True Form for some added speed, and was near the engines when another shot rocked the ship.

I managed to hold steady, and fixed the engines moments later. I blasted up to my Aether Form to avoid being scorched by the engines and quickly made my way back to the bridge, where we were about to ram into Senka's leviathan of a Gummi Ship.

"Brace for impact!" I yelled as we slammed into the giant ship…


	29. 27: Aboard the Black Cannon

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aboard the _Black Cannon_**

"Holy…" I muttered as repeated explosions rocked the ship, sending us careening into the ebon leviathan. We managed to get a ways into the hull before the ship stopped completely. I had been thrown about for a few moments, having lost my Aether Form. Staggering to my feet, I saw the smoldering remains of our once-proud ship.

"Sora! Riku! Are you guys okay?" I shouted into the darkness.

"Yeah… I just wanged my head on something…" Sora muttered, stumbling over to me in the darkness.

"I'm fine," Riku said, stepping forward.

"Okay. We know what has to get done! Let's go!" I shouted, going out through our broken hull. Coughing from smoke, I stepped onto the enemy's… Senka's… flagship.

I was not outside of the smoldering remains of our ship for a second before I was attacked by Dark Keybladers. I slew them all with a single batto-jutsu. Sora and Riku had then stepped out of the ship.

"Okay, let's go," Sora said.

"Be careful. We'll encounter… heavy resistance. This IS their flagship, after all," I told them.

"Yeah, yeah…" Riku muttered. We began forcing our way through the ship, with the same heavy resistance. I slew them all with a little bit of assistance from Sora and Riku. I wasn't about to let them fight these guys. This… is my fight.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Sora shouted to us through the red-lit halls.

"What?" Riku asked.

"It's the ship's name. This is the _Black Cannon_," Sora stated.

"The _Black Cannon_, huh? Then that means…" I began, but trailed off to think to myself.

"What?" Sora asked.

"… nothing. Let's go," I finished.

"Roy, you always say it's nothing. For once, tell us what you're thinking about!" Riku shouted.

"Well, if this ship's name is the Black Cannon, then it would stand to reason there may be a massive cannon empowered by darkness aboard the ship," I said.

"Yeah, and?" Sora retorted.

"That only makes it more imperative that we get to the bridge and stop… Senka," I said.

"All right! To the bridge!" Sora shouted. We then resumed forcing our way to the bridge, shutting off whatever systems we encountered along the way. I, of course, simply bashed all the panels with my sword.

Eventually we reached an elevator.

"Hm… it says we're on Deck 8. The bridge is here," Riku pointed to a map, "up on Deck 1."

"Then punch it! Let's go!" I yelled, mashing the button for Deck 1. The elevator whirred into motion, and despite resistance from Dark Keybladers at every level (which the elevator conveniently stopped at) we made it to Deck 1.

It's never that simple, of course. We had to go a bit farther before we made it to the Bridge, encountering ridiculous amounts of resistance from Dark Keybladers. Honestly, I wonder why Senka sends more at us, even though we just keep slaying them.

"This is the door to the Bridge. Ready?" I asked.

"Of course! I'm just itching for a fight!" Sora said.

"I'm always ready," Riku answered.

"Okay," I said quietly, punching the door button. It opened, revealing the spectacular Bridge. There were Dark Keybladers littered at various panels, mashing buttons for the weapons and shields. There, in front of the glass viewing windows, stood two people. One I immediately recognized as Senka. The other was wearing a long coat exactly like Xemnas'. The hood was up, but I had a good idea of who it was.

"So glad you could make it, Roy," Senka said, turning around. "Dark Keybladers?"

With that order, all of the Dark Keybladers left their posts and assaulted the three of us. We easily slew them.

"Is that the best you've got?" I sneered. But instead of coming to face us, Senka simply walked past us.

"Our fight will have to wait," she whispered to me, touching my shoulder. I felt a shudder run through my body as she did so. "I'll leave this to you, General," Senka finished, going out the Bridge door.

"So, General, whadda ya have in store for us?" Sora sneered from behind me. I didn't hear him or Riku say anything else, but the General never turned around. I didn't turn around or say anything until I saw Sora and Riku being dragged into dark portals from out of the corner of my eye. I turned back around to face the General, who had in turn turned around.

"So, General… Jason, how've you been?" I asked with my hands on my scabbard and sword hilt.

"Not like it matters to you, Hitokiri Kensai," Jason said, removing his hood. "Hmph. Here you come, reckless as usual, thinking you can beat me."

"Shut up. We don't need to go the rounds, ya know, 'I'm fighting for Serenity! Senka has her!'" I mocked. "I'm beating you and taking you back!"

"I don't want to be saved," Jason replied coldly.

"… you can only save yourself," I said.

"You take me on? That's a laugh," he sneered at me.

"In case you don't remember, I killed you once. I can easily do it again," I threatened.

"That may be true. But I was far weaker… back then," Jason said. "I'm stronger than you realize."

"Yeah, so what? I'm way stronger, too," I told him.

"Then let's see it!" he shouted, summoning his Keyblade.

"Fine…" I muttered, drawing my energy about me and closing my eyes. I felt my powers upgrade into my True Form powers, then further into my Aether Form.

"Whoa," I heard Jason say, eyes still closed.

"You really think you're a match for me?" I asked, slowly picking my head up and opening my eyes slowly. "Then show me. Let's play."

Jason then charged at me with all his speed, though it seemed to be slow-motion. I easily blocked his simple hit with an iaijutsu. I then made a clean, small cut on his left forearm, but I forgot my weapon's properties. The cut went all the way through his arm, severing his muscles and tendons.

Jason stepped back, howling in pain.

"So, that's what you can do, huh?" he sneered through the pain, slinging his left arm into his coat. "Way more than I anticipated."

"Stop this now," I said. "You can't beat me."

"No way! This is the only option!" Jason shouted, charging at me once again. I easily dodged his swiftest strokes, but returned no more, fearing I would mortally wound him.

"Pitiful. Is the best you can do?" I taunted. "I'm disappointed in you, General."

"Try this!" he shouted, making a full downward stroke. I blocked it with ease, using Gaia's Edge's special ability to latch onto his Keyblade. I threw it aside, kicking him down onto the floor.

"Not only am I stronger, I'm the better swordsman. It's over," I said.

"Never! It's never over!" Jason yelled, summoning his Keyblade back to his hands and striking me in the shin. It almost tickled. I then looked at him coldly. I took one last look at him before knocking him out with the blunt side of my sword. I then felt my Aether powers leave me, leaving me exhausted.

I saw dark portals open up behind me, throwing out Sora and Riku.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," I replied, breathing heavily.

"I can tell… you used _that_ transformation, didn't you?" he asked.

"I had to. He wouldn't listen to reason," I replied.

"Well, anyway, it's about time we self-destructed this leviathan," Riku said, walking up to a control panel. "Let's get Cid to pick us up, then blow this joint sky high!"

"Wait. I'll see if there's a self-destruct button for all the ships," I said.

"What? Why would there be a button like that?" Sora asked.

"This is the flagship, after all," I replied.

"Okay. Here we go," Riku said. "Cid. Cid! We need a pickup!" Riku shouted into the comm. After a few moments of static, Cid's face appeared on one of the viewscreens.

"So you guys did it! Hit the self-destruct button!" he commanded.

"We need a pickup first!" Riku shouted.

"We can't get anywhere near you! There's too many damn ships!" Cid shouted.

"Here it is! 'Armada self-destruct'…" I said aloud. "What does this button do?" I said in a stupid voice, hitting the button. A huge explosion then rocked the ship, and all I could see out of the windows were explosions.

"Holy /($#! You almost killed us!" Cid shouted.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get our lift here!" I yelled.

"Awright, hold yer horses. I'll be there in a minute," he said. Sure enough, a Highwind-Alpha model ship filled the windows moments later. Riku timed the self-destruct for one minute. I grabbed Jason by the collar as we beamed over.

I saw we were in the transport room before I passed out from exhaustion… _Damn,_ I thought. _Aether Form takes too much out of me…_


	30. 28: A Fleeting Dream

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Fleeting Dream**

When I came to, I was in a bed in the Radiant Garden's castle. I sat up, feeling refreshed but groggy. I looked around, seeing only one window and no other beds in the room and a large wooden door. I stepped out of the bed, picking up my sword (which was leaning against, tucking it in my belt.

I dragged the door open, staggering forward before I fully regained consciousness. I continued to go through the grand halls until I reached the antechamber, where Sora and Riku were waiting in plush velvet chairs.

"Roy! You're awake," Sora said as I approached.

"… yeah. I'm all right," I answered.

"Look. I got my Fragment of Light from the Keyhole here," Riku said, showing me his shining green crystal.

"Then tomorrow… we…" I began, trailing off. "Tomorrow we'll end this. How's Jason?"

"He'll be fine. That wound you gave him was pretty gruesome, though. Nobody's sure if he'll heal completely, even with Aerith's help," Riku informed me.

"That's…" I muttered. "I… need to be alone," I said, walking out. I wandered around for a little while, eventually settling on a bench in the borough. I sat there and pondered what had happened, what could happen. I closed my eyes and thought deeply.

"What's troubling you?" Sora asked. I opened my eyes to see him seated on the bench next to me.

"Nothing," I lied.

"Stop lying. You always pretend like nothing's wrong, even when something is wrong," Sora said. "Just tell me already; why don't you let people help you?"

"… my father… I never bothered to ask for his help for the longest time," I said.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"He was always busy. So was my mom. I could never ask for their help, even when I wanted it. I was pretty much left at the mercy of a babysitter, and by the time my dad made enough to support us without having to pinch pennies, I didn't need much help," I replied. "And all around, my dad doesn't like being bothered with my minor problems. He complains about everything."

"You never wanted help with anything?" Sora asked.

"No… I did… but everyone was too busy. I didn't want to bother them with my problems, and you have more important things to do. So don't worry about me," I said.

"But you're my friend. I'm going to worry about you," Sora told me. "That's what friends do."

"I… guess so. Even with that, I don't want to bother you with my problems," I said, getting up. "You've been through worse than I have."

"Sure about that?" Sora asked.

"…" I didn't reply as I walked off. I continued to wander around the town, eventually settling on a rooftop. I looked out at the twilit sky, taking in a deep breath to calm myself. Riku sat down next to me a few minutes later.

"So, what's your story?" he asked. I laughed a little to myself.

"My story? What do you mean?" I asked back.

"Why are you here? Why are you fighting?" Riku asked.

"Well, two years ago… my world was attacked by a bunch of madmen intent on purifying the world," I said. "Absolute light… which, of course, excluded me. I fought and killed them. All of them."

"That's good, right? You saved everybody," Riku commented.

"… I wish it were good. Apparently, I defied my fate in doing so. That's what's messed everything up," I told him. "And that's why everything that's happened has happened. It's worse…" I trailed off.

"What?" Riku asked.

"My hands were bloodied the day my journey began. After a year, they were stained with the blood of my enemies… and also my friends," I told him.

"You… killed your own friends?" Riku asked in horror.

"Only Jason and Serenity. Jason was accidental… and Serenity was already dead," I told him. "I brought them all back with a time rewind, though."

"… why are you telling me all this?" Riku asked.

"I wanted you to know… seeing as we're friends and all," I said. "But more importantly, I need to calm myself before tomorrow. I can't face Senka… and…" I muttered, trailing off.

"And?" Riku asked, intrigued.

"… forget it. It's my fight, and mine alone," I said, jumping off the rooftop. I meandered around for a bit longer, retreating to the castle at dusk. I stood on a balcony, overlooking the town. The now-starry sky seemed peaceful, despite the battle that was about to rage. A full moon was out.

"Roy… I figured I'd find you here," someone said. I turned around to see Jason walking up to the balcony, arm in a sling inside his coat.

"Jason… I…" I began.

"No… It's my fault. If I weren't so weak-willed, maybe things would have turned out differently," he apologized. "They say my arm'll get better after a year or two. Maybe even back to as good as it was."

"Jason… stay behind tomorrow," I told him.

"Yeah, I suppose that's for the best," he said. "Not only do I lack the strength to fight, but Senka's will would probably overcome me again. Fight for me, okay?"

"I'll do what I can," I said. "But I…"

"You'll save her. Don't worry," Jason said casually.

"It's just…" I began. "I can't save her."

"She can only save herself, yeah, I know. Still…" he said, "your influence affects people. Your presence alone affects their fates. I know this."

"But the major question is: will I affect her fate for better or for worse?" I pondered.

"I don't know. Only you will find out," Jason said, going back into the castle. I went back into my room and went to bed a little while later, still pondering what would happen tomorrow. I knew I couldn't doubt myself, or I'd be killed. Still…

I awoke emboldened to my fate. Finally, I understood what I had to do and was resolved to do it, no matter what the cost. I grabbed my musty old coat, the one Amy had made for me, and put it on over my outfit.

"Roy! What's with the coat?" Sora asked as I walked up to him in the borough.

"It's personal. So, how do we get to the Realm of Darkness this time?" I questioned.

"Let's try going off the Edge of Despair in the World that Never Was," Riku suggested. We then beamed up and headed over to the World that Never Was...


	31. 28x: Roy's Truths

**Chapter 28x: Roy's Truths**

-This is a bonus chapter, used to develop Roy as a character (since he mostly fights), and consists of conversations between Roy and Sora, Riku, and Jason. It takes place during the restless night Roy spent in the Radiant Garden's castle before his cataclysmic battles with Senka and Amy. They all take place around the same time.

Sora

o--------

"So, what's keeping you awake, Roy?" Sora asked. I was leaning on the balcony overlooking the city. I sighed.

"It's… I don't think I can fight her," I replied. "She's dear to me."

"Yeah, I know," Sora sighed. "I didn't have to worry about something like this. But I know what it's like to have everything weighing on you."

"Not in the way I do. That was the fate assigned to you," I said. "You had already saved Kairi and all the worlds before you actually did it."

"You're worrying too much about trivial things," Sora told me. "Destiny… fate… I don't think about those things. I just follow my heart."

"Yeah, I know. I try to be the same way, but it's not always that easy," I replied. "I couldn't follow my heart. I was too busy dwelling in the past."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"I've moved around a lot. I never had one friend for more than four years," I told him. "I stopped bothering with friends. I figured if I'm just going to lose them in a few years, then why bother?"

An audible gust blew past us.

"I stopped following my heart, let alone listening to it. You had the Riku and Kairi to lean on for support… and they had you. But I… never had good friends like you do," I told him. "They've probably forgotten about me by now."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," Sora said, stirring something within me. "You're so wrapped up in your self-pity you can't make new friends. Stop wallowing in your sorrow!"

"… it's not that simple," I replied. "But I'll try."

"That's all I can ask," he said, going back into the castle.

"Sora?" I asked.

"What?" he asked back.

"Thanks," I said, a single tear streaming down my face. He kept walking, though I was still restless.

Riku

o--------

"You're still up, too?" Riku asked, stepping through the doorway into the chilly dusk.

"Yeah… I couldn't sleep. You either?" I asked back.

"Nah. Not knowing what's about to happen," Riku answered.

"I guess we're the same like that," I commented.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"We're both trudging through the twilight. We're looking for repentance and forgiveness," I said.

"Sora and Kairi… have already forgiven me," he said back. "Even so, I know I can't ever be free of the darkness. Just like you."

"But," I said back, "you stand in the dawn. I'm afraid… I'm slipping into the dusk."

"'No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within.' Remember?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, yeah. That's all fine if you're living in a dream world. Even if that silly little proverb is true," I told him, "light isn't always good."

"What…?" Riku asked, bewildered.

"Did I tell you? The man who wreaked havoc on my homeworld… the one who took everything from me… was empowered by pure light," I said to him. Riku seemed puzzled for a moment.

"It's not what you have, it's what you do with it," he replied. "Even if you descend into the depths of darkness, as long as you do what you believe is right in your heart, you won't falter."

"I… won't falter…" I said to myself.

"I think I've said enough," Riku said with a yawn. "I'm going to bed."

With that, Riku went back into the castle, leaving me in the steadily chilling air.

Jason

o---------

I stood out in the high moon of the night, watching my breath as it was chilled by the cold, night air. I looked up at the starry sky, pondering what Riku and Sora had told me.

"I need to stop feeling sorry for myself… I have to stay true to my heart… otherwise I'll falter…" I muttered to myself. "But I…"

"They're right, you know," I heard a voice behind me say.

"Jason…" I said. "If you're well enough to be up at this hour, maybe you can come with tomorrow." He laughed, then walked up to the edge of the terrace where I stood.

"Sorry, but no can do. I've even got a note from Aerith," Jason said, showing me the aforementioned note. I laughed.

"Still joking and whining? You're back to your old self, I see," I commented.

"Yeah. Sorry about what I did. I… wasn't myself," he said.

"Forget about it. I know what it's like… to lose yourself," I told him.

"You've lost yourself to the darkness before?" Jason asked.

"Many times," I replied. "I had nearly lost myself to the darkness when I… killed you."

"I heard about that year from Senka. Did all that… really happen?" Jason asked.

"How do you think I got so strong?" I asked.

"True. You seemed to have gained… otherworldly skill when school started back up," he said. "At the talent show, you…"

"Yeah. Sad part was I wasn't even trying," I said.

"You diced three apples blindfolded! All of your cuts were perfect… flawless. It was enough to earn a ton of respect," Jason said. "But you didn't seem satisfied. Why?"

"… because _she_ still didn't notice me," I said. "Even after wearing my old coat, even after showing my awesome bladework, even after I made salutatorian… _she_ still didn't notice me."

"Roy… you know…" Jason suggested.

"Yeah. I'll have to fight _her_, before or after Senka. And whether I want to or not… I'll probably have to kill _her_," I replied.

"Roy…" Jason began. I turned around and began walking back into the castle.

"I have to stop feeling sorry for myself. I can't falter. That's… difficult," I said. "I have to do whatever's necessary. I can't say I won't falter."

"One more thing," Jason shouted.

"What?" I asked, turning my head around so I could just see him.

"Your eyes… they're different."


	32. 29: Judgment Day

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Judgment Day**

After we had arrived in the World that Never Was, Sora, Riku and I meandered through the Dark City, effortlessly slaying Shadows and Neoshadows for a while before we chanced upon the Memory's Skyscraper. I felt the darkness within me stirring… but I pushed it away through sheer force of will. We immediately went to the Edge of Despair before we could be assaulted by more Heartless.

"So, let's go," Riku said, jumping off the Edge of Despair. Sora followed him without hesitation. I stayed a moment. I closed my eyes and calmed myself, then fell backwards off of the Edge.

I opened my eyes in mid-fall only to be surrounded by light. After a few moments of that, it turned to darkness. I felt the darkness stirring within me begin to resurface, this time stronger, but again I suppressed it. I eventually felt myself land on hard ground, surrounded by darkness. After getting to my feet, I could see Senka's castle naught but a few hundred meters away.

"This is it. Our final battle… together, anyways. Ready, guys?" I asked Sora and Riku, whom had landed just moments before me.

"Yeah," Sora said quietly.

"Definitely," Riku replied.

"Then let's go," I said, stepping forward toward Senka's castle. After walking for a minute or so, we reached the steps. I could see someone there… it wasn't her, so it must have been Senka. We ascended the steps quickly.

"At last, the hero, the dark knight, and the hitokiri arrive. Tell me, what has been delaying your arrival?" Senka asked as we ascended to the platform she was standing on, a few dozen steps below the castle gate.

"Well, if you really must know, we had to find a way into your castle. So, if you don't mind, we'll be going in now," I said. "Be it around or through you."

"Amusing. You think you have a chance against me?" Senka sneered.

"A chance? You're the one without a chance," Riku said arrogantly. Senka laughed.

"Come, then. See what light and twilight can do against pure darkness!" Senka shouted, blasting out waves of pure darkness at us. I braced myself as best as I could, being dragged back slightly. I closed my eyes to protect them from debris, and when I opened them, I saw Senka enveloped in darkness. It flowed off of her like water.

"You earnestly believe that you can defeat me?" Senka sneered.

"You? You're nothing," I said, going to my True Form and standing on the fringes of my Aether Form. "Not compared to _her_."

"Of course," Sora said, stepping up to his Final Form. "It's an internal battle that we'll have to fight, and a battle like that is nothing compared to fighting you."

"We won't lose. Not today!" Riku shouted, despite his lack of an empowered form.

"Well, then, heroes. See what fate awaits you!" Senka challenged us. We surrounded her in a triangular pattern, attacking simultaneously. Not one of our attacks worked; they were all blocked by Senka's darkness.

"Is that… all there is?" she asked, slamming Riku away. "No challenge?" she asked, slamming Sora into the steps. "No… resistance?" she asked again, attacking me. I blasted into my Aether Form to stop the attack. I parried all the blows she sent at me, narrowly getting in what seemed to be a hit… but it was stopped.

"Roy!" Sora shouted, getting back on his feet. He tried more hits, dodging the parries with lightning speed. I did the same, and while we scored no hits, we didn't take any, either.

"Pathetic. I expected more from you two," Senka sneered, charging at us with her mutable darkness. We blocked or parried all the hits she sent our way, but we didn't get a good hit. I was beginning to despair when I found the answer: the Light Crystals. I pulled out my crystal and put it in a slot on my sword hilt. The blade shone with a brilliant light. Sora seemed to notice, and did something similar.

"It's only light. No light can pierce my darkness," Senka told us. Despite what she said, our next parries made it through her dark barrier. A bit of blood ran down my sword as I stood before her, now holding the secret to defeating Senka.

"That is… impossible. You cannot defeat me!" Senka shouted, charging at Sora. He dodged the attack and went into his Ragnarok combo. After his final hit, I charged down through Senka with a ball of energy I had been building up since Sora's first hit, planting my sword in the ground along with Senka. I snapped my fingers, exploding the ball of energy and making a flare go up through the darkness. I turned around to see Senka still alive, just barely, writhing under my blade.

NEW ATTACK!  
Sora and Roy – **Ragnarok Supernova**: Roy and Sora's Limit Technique; Sora's Ragnarok combo followed up by Roy throwing his sword through their opponent, then exploding a ball of energy beneath their opponent.

"Pretty… good…" Senka squeaked, still writhing.

"It was… what we had to do," Sora said. Riku promptly jumped back up to our arena.

"Now, let's go, guys," I said, dropping my Aether Form. Sora dropped his Final Form, as well. I pulled Gaia's Edge out of Senka as I began walking up the steps to the gate. Senka's body disintegrated after I pulled my sword out, but her darkness loomed above us, then blazed into the castle.

I pulled the Light Crystal out of my sword's hilt once we reached the gate. Holding up our Light Crystals, the barrier was dispelled. I shoved both of the doors open at the same time, stepping into the castle.

"What… what is this?" Sora asked, shocked beyond belief.


	33. 30: The Past

**Chapter Thirty: The Past**

"What… is this?" Sora asked, shocked beyond belief. Within the castle doors was the borough of the Radiant Garden, frozen in time with unanimated people. Small shards of light were raining down upon the people, who seemed happy and content.

"This must be…" I said to myself, looking around. Despite the people's happiness, everything seemed …off. A familiar presence was about us… I couldn't place my finger on it, though.

"What?" Riku asked.

"This is before the worlds were splintered," Sora and I said almost simultaneously. "Yeah… this must be in the past."

_It is_, a familiar voice rang around me. _This was ages ago when the worlds were still one._

"Senka," I said. "What are you talking about?"

"Roy, we just killed Senka. Who are you talking to?" Riku asked me.

"Senka's…" I began, but was interrupted.

"Senka's spirit is still around," I told them. "I can hear her."

"Me, too." Sora told me. "What is this place?"

_This place… is a place I made so that I could reflect on all that happened so many years ago_, Senka's voice said. _It is a place constructed of our memories: my memories from ages past, and your memories from ages recent._

"It's based on our memories? What memory is this?" Riku asked.

_My earliest memory… my memory of the worlds before they were splintered._

"So, this is the world in its true form?" I asked.

_Yes… and it is the world you shall restore, if you have strength enough to defeat the darkness._

"But you defended the darkness! You're the one who controlled so much of it, we were nearly overwhelmed even in our transformed states!" Sora shouted.

_I would say you were overwhelmed… if it was not for those Light Crystals you carry, you would have certainly lost._

"Enough of this idle banter. What is this supposed to show us?" I asked.

_My past… the past of Xehanort… your pasts… your futures… they all tie together._

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora shouted.

_Look around you. See the people? They're happy, even though darkness lies all around them._

"But… the darkness didn't come until people became selfish and wanted the light all for themselves!" Riku said.

_Did you earnestly believe darkness was born of men? Foolish dark knight…_

"Darkness is eternal. It's no more finite than light… which means it's endless," I commented.

_The hitokiri is right… darkness existed long before the worlds were splintered. It existed even then, in the time of so-called 'purity.'_

"So then, something must have been diverting the darkness from the hearts of men," Riku said. "Something… or someone."

_Exactly. Something to divert the darkness from the world… someone to keep the darkness away. A sieve…_

"You, Senka. You were that sieve," I said.

_You never cease to amaze me, hitokiri. Yes, I was that sieve._

"You guys… let's find Senka. If this is her memory, she should be around here somewhere," I said.

"Yeah… let's find her," Sora said. We proceeded to search and search, but could find nobody resembling Senka. So, in the end, I knew where she must have been.

"Guys, we'll have to close the doors to find Senka. Once we do so, there's no going back," I said. Sora and Riku both accepted that. I closed the doors, and on the inside was…

"A little girl. But she looks like Senka," Sora said.

"But she looks so innocent," Riku commented of the little girl. "Nothing like… Senka…"

_Do not judge people based on their appearances. That is me._

"So, then… something sealed away the darkness that was within her. That much darkness would build and overflow," I said.

_Exactly. Go into the next room, and there you shall find more truth._

We proceeded into a door that had appeared before our eyes. The inside looked similar to the Crystal Fissure. There stood an older Senka, probably in her teenage years. A man was also there… his hairstyle and face seemed oddly familiar… it was silver and long, with three odd spikes. He was also wearing a long, black coat…

The two were embracing. They must have been in love.

"That's… Xehanort, is it not?" I asked.

_Yes. That is Xehanort._

"How's that possible? We're in the distant past, aren't we?" Sora asked.

_Just because this is the past, it does not mean people you know will not be here._

"So, what are we looking at?" Riku asked.

_The first wound in destiny._

"Wound… in destiny?" Sora asked.

"A wound in destiny. Like me… I suppose this means Xehanort had the ability to affect the destinies of everyone and everything, as well," I replied.

_Yes. I expected no less from the hitokiri… Xehanort was also a wound in destiny. He was different… after that day._

"That day?" Riku asked.

_Nobodies existed long before Heartless. I… loved Xehanort. He was one of the warriors of the world… back then, everybody had a Keyblade_.

"Except you," I said.

_Still more wisdom. Yes, everyone had a Keyblade back then. And I was ridiculed for not having one. But Xehanort accepted me._

"You loved him… and he loved you. Something happened that day," Sora said.

_Xehanort was meant to die in that fight against some Nobodies. But so strong was his will that he, like the hitokiri, broke the chains of fate. That rippled across everything._

"And, in the end, somehow splintered the worlds," I said. "Something didn't empty the sieve… that led to overflowing darkness."

_And with the overflowing darkness, a great battle began… one that all adults would perish in, save three._

Another door appeared. I opened it and stepped into the Keyblade Graveyard I had visited two years ago. A dust storm was kicked up, and in the crossroads stood three knights, each holding a unique Keyblade and the Keyblades of Light, Darkness, and Twilight. There was also a silhouette of someone… a woman, in the sandstorm.

"Xehanort… and two of his allies," I quickly concluded.

_Wisdom beyond words. Yes… that was Xehanort in his last stand against the darkness._

"But Xehanort always fought for the darkness… and Xemnas fought for the twilight," Riku said. "Why would he stand against it?"

_I… was overcome with the darkness that had welled up in me. After that happened, the connection between the worlds fractured. People became selfish. They fought this pointless Keyblade War, and in the end, only three were left standing._

"Xehanort and two of his allies," I said. "They survived and challenged you."

_Yes. They stood and challenged the Darkness of Eternity, and despite their best efforts, failed. But even overcome by the darkness, I could not kill Xehanort._

"So what did you do with him?" Sora asked. Another door appeared.

_Go through that door and find out._

Riku pushed open both doors simultaneously, and we stepped through the narrow doorway. On the inside was a pod room… the same one we had visited near the beginning of our journey. Senka stood in front of the pod, looking at a sleeping Xehanort.

"You erased his memories? Why would you do that?" Sora asked.

_Why did Naminé erase your memories?_

"What?" Sora asked.

"Your memories were altered… changed, Sora," Riku said. "Naminé… Kairi's Nobody, messed up your memories two years ago. You had to sleep in a pod to regain your true memories… and your true self."

_Yes. But I did not change Xehanort so that he could regain his true self. None of his memories had been altered before I placed him in that pod._

"So why did you erase his memories?" I asked.

_I am not entirely sure… maybe so he would love me as I was, maybe for no reason. It matters not. The important part is that I saved Xehanort._

"But that was probably hundreds… maybe even thousands of years ago! How did you keep yourself alive, let alone Xehanort?" Sora shouted.

_I do not still live… not truly. My consciousness, freed from the darkness, is showing you the truth. I kept Xehanort and myself alive by slowing down our metabolic rates to almost nothing._

"So what happened that set all the events we've been faced with over the past three years in motion?" Riku asked.

_I cannot show you… none of us were there when it happened. Suffice to say, Xehanort one day broke out of his capsule. I then hunted him down with Nobodies, but he was as resilient as ever, despite lacking his Keyblade. He somehow made it to the Radiant Garden._

"So why didn't you go get him?" Sora asked, slightly furious.

_I could not… otherwise, the Radiant Garden would have been plunged into darkness. And, even after so long, I still held some respect for the once-proud center of all worlds._

"And the rest, they say, is history," I said. "We know the rest of what's happened. So what else do you have to show us?"

_I cannot show you anything you do not yet know… except you, hitokiri. But that is for later._

Another door appeared in front of us. I shoved it open and found myself on the Destiny Islands beach. But something was different… the water was purple.

"This is when… I fought Xehanort's Heartless…" Sora said, trembling slightly.

_Is this how Xehanort met his end? I expected someone… a little taller to do the job._

I looked around a little to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy teaming up against Xehanort in frozen animation.

"That was a tough battle," Sora said. "He was awfully strong… but I'm way more than strong enough to beat him now!"

_But why did you fight him?_

"To save Riku," Sora answered. "He had already saved himself, but was stuck in the Realm of Darkness. I had to get him."

_As good a reason as any to fight. You were fighting for your friend._

"Yeah," Sora said. Another door appeared. I shoved it open and found myself in the Realm of Nothingness… the place where Sora and Riku had dueled with Xemnas. They were fighting, once again, in frozen animation.

"Xemnas," Riku said, a hint of disgust in his voice.

_Why did you fight Xemnas? All he truly wished for was to give the Nobodies hearts. Was that so wrong?_

"No… but he messed with everybody's world to get there! And he wanted to make some sort of empire… he used his own, artificial Kingdom Hearts!" Riku shouted.

_Can you say you would not have done the same thing in his position?_

"That's…" Riku trailed off. "I… he… it was the right thing to do!"

_You cannot haphazardly justify your actions. The right thing to do varies from person to person. Remember, not all Nobodies are what you would call 'evil.'_

"What's the point of all this?" Riku yelled, very frustrated.

_You must decide that for yourself._

Another door appeared. Sora shoved it opened, and I found myself in my most nightmarish moment… the moment Charon killed Amy.

"Don't show me this!" I said, turning around. But I couldn't escape it… the door had disappeared.

_This was your most desperate moment, was it not?_

"I… I can't face this… even now," I said, terrified.

_You failed to protect the last of your friends. You failed to defeat Charon. You failed to save your world._

"That's… not true…" I said, trembling. "I… I saved the world."

_Believe what you will, but know the truth. You were never meant to defeat Charon… never meant to live as you did after your clash with him._

I turned around, still trembling. It was the moment I had clashed with Charon, sending me into the Realm of Darkness for the first time. Amy was lying on the floor in a bloody mess.

"Roy… I never knew…" Sora said.

"This is what your other journey was like? It's… horrible…" Riku said.

"That's…" I said. "Thanks, guys…"

_I am not showing you this so you can gain sympathy. You must understand why you opposed Charon, and more importantly, why you broke the chains of fate._

"Why? I did it… for vengeance. Or was it justice? The two seem to be interchangeable in this situation," I said. "But more than anything I did it for justice."

_Justice…_

"Yeah," I said. "I did it for them… for her… and to save the world."

_That sounds like vengeance._

"It might be," I said with finality.

_And now, it is time for you to part paths._

Two doors appeared before us; one on the left, one on the right.

_Roy will take the right door. Sora and Riku shall go through the right._

"What's different about them?" Sora asked.

_The door on your left will show you the rest of the past as it has happened. The door on your right will show you the future that was meant to be._

"So, which door are we going through?" Riku asked.

_The dark knight and the hero will go through the left door. What lies beyond the door to the right… is something for the hitokiri's eyes alone._

"We can take anything Roy can!" Sora shouted.

_You cannot handle such carnage and despair. What was meant to happen…_

"Okay. If we've got to, let's split up," I said.

"But look, Roy. Look how far we've come," Sora said. "We can't split up now."

"We have to. I've come too far to not know what all this is about," I said.

"All right. I see your heart's set," Riku said. "Come on, Sora." He and Sora walked over to the left door, then shoved it open. "Be careful."

"I will," I said as they walked through the door. I went over to the right door and pushed it open.

I_ cannot stay with you any longer, hitokiri. My consciousness will fade away soon… you are on your own from here on out._

"Senka?" I called out. "Senka!" No reply.

"So I'm really on my own," I said, shoving open the right door with both hands. "Well, then, time to get to the bottom of this mess," I said to myself, stepping through the doorway…


	34. 31: The Future that Never Was

**Chapter Thirty-One: The Future that Never Was**

On the inside of the door I found not much different. I was on the ground, kneeling, while Senka was shielding me with darkness. From what was happening, I presumed she had… saved me.

"Isn't that curious?" I asked myself. "So Senka would have saved me… but why?"

I stood around, taking in all the angles of what was going on. Even Charon's immense control over light couldn't pierce Senka's dark shield, it seemed… like she was saving me for a reason.

"I get it. Another tool," I said to myself. "Senka is really strong, but even she needs tools."

Another door appeared. I pushed it open to find myself, and the other me, standing in some part of Senka's castle. The other me was bowing before Senka, whom was seated on a dark throne.

"There's no way… I would ever swear alliegance to someone like Senka," I said. "Then again, back then…"

I walked around, taking in all the angles again. The other me was as close to the ground as he could get, while Senka looked at him evilly. I wasn't sure if she was going to twist him or kill him… but I knew what she was doing.

"Corrupt me to use me," I said. "Use me… to snuff out the light. Even though I wasn't as strong as I am now, I was still stronger than Riku, back then… maybe even Sora."

Another door appeared. I shoved it open, and found myself on the smaller island off of the Destiny Islands. The sky was very dark… nearly pitch black… and I stood there, dragging Kairi by the back of her dress into a dark portal. Sora was slumped against a tree, clearly knocked out, while Riku was lying sprawled on the ground, and looked like he was trying to crawl forward.

"As I thought… Senka would have corrupted me so that I would become her tool," I said to myself. "It's what I was meant to do…"

I stood there trembling for a moment before regaining myself.

"No… I refused that path. It's nothing more than a vision…" I said to myself. "I refused the darkness, even though…"

Another door appeared, this one ebony in shade. I shoved it open to find myself dueling Riku in the Great Maw, halfway entrenched in darkness. We were clashing swords high above the Great Maw, and I was wielding my Zangetsu.

"My Dark Form… I had nearly forgotten about it," I said. "It's a cursed strength… something I never want to use again. It makes me into something I'm not…"

Just then, I had an epiphany. The darkness had made me into something I'm not… so it must have made Senka into something she's not. And that means… it would make her into something she's not.

"I don't want to know the conclusion of this battle…" I said to myself. "Either way, only more tragedy would have come of it."

Another ebon door appeared.

"I'm not sure I want to know what's on the other side…" I muttered to myself as I pushed open the doors. "But I have to find her… and maybe, I can still save her."

I walked through the ebon door to find myself dueling with Riku again, this time in the World that Never Was. We were running toward each other, running up and down the Memory's Skyscraper. This time I was completely entrenched in darkness, while Riku looked like Xehanort's Heartless, once again donning Organization XIII's black coat.

"We're both totally submerged in the darkness," I said to myself. "He's… I'm…"

I stood silently, shaking in my boots.

"No… I turned away from the darkness. I can still ignore its grip over me!" I shouted. Another ebon door appeared. I shoved it open and ran through it at the same time. This time I was standing in Senka's throne room, dueling Sora. I was once again in my full Dark Form, while Sora was in his Final Form. It appeared that I was losing.

"I think I understand it now… I was supposed to fight Riku twice: once a draw, the other time… I was supposed to kill him. After that, Sora would have battled me, and in the end, killed me," I said. "Then he would have gotten Kairi back, left for the Destiny Islands… and maybe lived happily ever after. Then again, there's no such thing… as happily ever after."

"You're awfully wise," I heard a menacing voice call out. It was too damn familiar… so creepy…

"Who's there?" I asked, turning around.

"You," the voice said. I turned back around to find the Dark me walking towards me.

"You're the me that was meant to be…" I said, a slight shake in my voice. "The evil me… the one steeped so far in darkness, you don't know anything else…"

"Evil? I thought we threw away such childish concepts," the Dark me said. "I'm not evil… just the polar opposite of you."

"I suppose this means you're going to want to fight?" I asked, somewhat more confident now. "Why else would you…"

"Yeah, we're going to fight. And I'll beat you," the Dark me said, "because you've come to rely on nonexistent powers."

"What are you talking about…" I trailed off, intending to go into my True Form. But I didn't feel the strength enter me… and I looked down to see my Phoenix Sword had disappeared!

"Those forms you use… True and Aether… don't exist. Your sword doesn't exist. In the end, you yourself aren't meant to exist!" the Dark me shouted, charging at me with the Zangetsu. He attempted to impale me, but I dodged it. He spun around, striking me in the abdomen. Or he would have, had I not grabbed the sword. I pulled it out of his hands, stepped back, and got into a ready pose.

"You forget: I once wielded all the swords you carry. I have just as much, if not more technical prowess!" I shouted. I charged at the Dark me, who used a batto-jutsu to knock me back. I stood steady as he slashed and thrusted his Masamune at me several dozen times. I then worked my way a bit closer, and attempted to impale him with the Zangetsu's cord. He blocked it.

"Don't you remember our abilities?" the Dark me asked, pulling out the Souba he carried. He then slammed it onto the Masamune, making… the Soubasune. "You can't defy your fate!"

"I won't be consumed by the darkness!" I yelled, brashly charging at him again. We clashed swords, and I stared into his hate-filled, crimson eyes. We backed off for a moment.

"I had almost forgotten how corruptive the darkness is…" I muttered to myself. "I see it in your eyes…"

"Those eyes of yours… they're the eyes of a hero," the Dark me said.

"Hero? I'm no hero… call me Hitokiri Kensai," I told the Dark me. "Sora's a hero. Someone like me… could never be called a hero… I kept wishing, hoping, even, that it wouldn't come to this. I never wanted to kill Amy… I never even wanted to fight her."

"Amy…" the Dark me said. "She… I couldn't protect her… that's why…"

"Why what?" I asked.

"Why I followed Senka. I didn't need to protect anyone, and my strength made it easy to destroy. So I did what I do best: I killed."

"You're weak," I said.

"What!" the Dark me shouted.

"You're weak. You were too weak to stand up to the darkness… too weak to stand up to the light… too weak to stand up for what you believe in!" I shouted.

"SAY THAT AGAIN!" the Dark me shouted, blazing at me, Soubasune outstretched. He attempted to slash me, but I grabbed the blade, looking down. I felt blood on my hand… my blood.

"You're weak," I said. Then I thrusted him through the stomach with the Zangetsu, turning it after wounding him. He screamed in agony, then froze again. My Phoenix Sword was at my side again, and I felt my forms return. A door made of pure silver, trimmed with opal stones and ivory, appeared before me.

"This is…" I gasped. "This is…!"

I slowly pulled the doors open, then slowly walked through them. I found myself on the beach I had stood on two years ago. This time, though, there was sound. I could hear the wind blowing across my coat and the lull of the waves. The sky was twilit. I knew what memory this was… and it was a memory that was meant to exist. This was that memory…

I walked around a little, looking for the memory I was meant to see. After only a minute or so, I chanced upon my goal. I stood a ways away from the me of two years ago, who was approaching a campfire Amy was seated around.

"Roy! You're okay!" she shouted, and then came over and sat next to the other me. She also tried to hug the other me, but the other me shrugged her off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry… about before," the other me said once she had given up. "I don't know what happened… I guess I just lost control."

"It's okay. Nobody can always control themselves." Amy replied. "Well, that's the last of them, I think." she said, and then quickly put her head on the other me's shoulder by surprise. "Wasn't it great, though? We got to reenact a scene from Naruto!"

"What scene?" the other me asked her, barely able to restrain himself.

"The one where Sasuke uses his cursed seal for the first time… and just about annihilates all three of those Sound Ninja. It was kind of like that," she answered.

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's just hope what happened to Sasuke doesn't happen to me!" the other me said with a small smile, and then tried to shrug Amy off again.

"Just a little longer?" she asked the other me, looking up.

"Tch! Fine…" the other me muttered, finally submitting.

Time froze again. I began silently

It was so obvious… I…

I opened my heart.

A door made of black silver, trimmed with onyx stones and ebon wood appeared before me. I knew what was beyond this door… the battle to decide everything. The battle with my light… and my darkness…


	35. 32: The Limits of Power

**Chapter Thirty-Two: The Limits of Power**

The inside of the door was familiar. I had seen it just a few minutes ago. It was Senka's throne room… dark and gloomy, save for the dim, green lanterns that hung from the wall. And another person was seated on the Throne of Darkness… someone I knew all too well…

"So, you finally made it to the truth," Amy said. "You know who you are now."

"I always knew who I was. That's why…" I said, "… that's why I rejected my destiny."

"Really? It seemed like you had lost yourself for a while… but I see it in your eyes," Amy replied. "You're… all of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, are we going to do this the easy way," I said, getting into an iaijutsu pose, "or the hard way? 'cause, ya know, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other."

"Of course it doesn't. So violent…" Amy began. I closed my eyes and got into the same calming pose I had used against Sora. I opened my eyes slowly to see Amy charging at me, ready for a running batto-jutsu. I easily blocked the attack from her red katana.

"If that's the best you've got…" I said, going to the edge of my True Form, "this fight is already over," I finished, fully ascending into the form. "I'm way stronger than you know."

"True Form, huh? Why aren't you taking me seriously?" Amy asked.

"I am… otherwise, I wouldn't even use a Form," I replied.

"Then take this seriously!" Amy shouted, going… into a True Form?

"What the hell? That's my form!" I shouted.

"A wound in destiny will spread until all things have been strayed from their chosen paths… isn't that right?" Amy said, looking at me with a sinister look. "This is my own True Form… the real me."

"It doesn't matter either way! I'm stronger than you, and I'm more skilled!" I shouted at her. I tried to attack with a thrust, but Amy pushed it aside, hitting me in the stomach with the opening move of an iaijutsu. I staggered back, grabbed her katana that was trying to hit me by the blade, and stood there.

"All right, fine," I said, looking down. "No more playing around!" I shouted, looking up and attempting a diagonal cut. Despite jumping back to avoid the attack, Amy was still nicked on the shoulder.

"No more fooling around, huh?" Amy asked, pulling out both her sakaboto and her katana. "Then I won't play either!"

"So be it," I said coldly. We charged at each other at sonic speeds, hearing the loud clang of our blades clashing. I jumped behind her, attempting a whirling slash after landing, but was blocked. Amy then jumped into the air and threw her sakaboto at me, but I knocked it back at her and gave pursuit. In the air, we attacked an parried countless times. We landed a minute or so later.

"You truly are… hitokiri…" Amy said, breathing heavily.

"You don't have as much experience with these powers," I said. "You can't beat me… not at that level, anyway."

"Nonsense!" Amy shouted, raising the same Dark Shield Senka had used. "I'm not trying hard enough, is all!"

"Only more to burden yourself with…" I said, placing my Light Crystal into my Phoenix Sword's hilt. "This will negate that aura, so you may as well drop it."

"That's ridiculous! Nothing can pierce pure darkness!" Amy shouted at me.

"Then… come," I said, doing a two-fingered 'bring it on' taunt. She charged at me, attempting to thrust me in the stomach. I arrogantly dodged the attack, parried the second attack, and held my blade to her throat for a moment.

"I have no desire to kill you. But if you won't give up, I'll break your arms and legs!" I shouted, blasting into my Aether Form. The outburst had sent Amy flying back a bit, but she held steady.

"Now it's Aether Form, eh?" she asked, that sinister look in her eyes again. I felt the ground beneath me begin to quake, so I wasn't too surprised when Amy blasted into an Aether Form of her own. It was different from mine, though… instead of white lightning, sparks of black lightning flowed off of her.

"Do you have any original moves?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Amy answered. "If you possess strength enough, you'll see."

"I'm stronger than you know," I said again. "These are my powers… my strengths. You're nothing more than a pale imitation!"

"A pale imitation, huh?" Amy asked. "Well, then, come see what an imitation can do."

I blazed at Amy, rending the ground beneath my feet. My blade clashed with both of her swords. I jumped back, and we did several parries and counterattacks, each one causing shockwaves that put out the lanterns. Moments later, we stood in absolute darkness; the only thing that illuminated our battleground was the lightning that surged off of us and our auras.

"Hitokiri Kensai… no, Roy Hartmut! You are truly strong, and for that, I will show you…" Amy began. "I will show you the ultimate power of darkness!"

A great tremor ran through the throne room, crumbling invisible pillars. I shielded my eyes from the debris, and after I opened them, Amy was totally different. Her skin was totally black, like my old Dark Form, and her dark aura had formed into two wings.

"Amy… you…" I said, looking down. "That darkness… was not meant for you. I had hoped that you would turn back from the darkness… save yourself… but now I see all that truly matters to you now is power..."

"What of it?" Amy asked with a severe distortion in her voice.

"So if you're pursuing the limits of power… allow me to show you… what lies beyond them!" I shouted, going into my full-powered Aether Form… and beyond…


	36. 33: Rairin: Katayoku no Tenma

**Chapter Thirty-Three: _Rairin: Katayoku no Tenma_**

I continued to shout as my power raged beyond control… beyond limits. The ground itself began to make a crater as my power rose… higher and higher… until it was beyond limits… I could see the Limits of Power as an orange barrier around me… it shattered like glass…

**NEW **Ability!  
Roy: Katayoku no Tenma (One-Winged Demon): Roy's true ultimate transformation. Having opened his heart, Roy is now able to transcend the Limits of Power (represented as an orange barrier around his body). In this form, Roy possesses unparalleled speed and strength, and his appearance returns to normal; however, a single white demon wing protrudes from his right shoulder (though he doesn't realize it). It can be maintained for an unlimited time, but leaves Roy exhausted upon dropping the form. The white demon wing represents his rising from dusk to dawn.

**NEW **Ability!  
Amy: Akuma (Demon/Devil) Form: Amy's ultimate (and thus far only) transformation. It can only be achieved through unnatural means; notably, forceful corruption and subsequently surrendering oneself to the darkness. It stands at the very Limits of Power, constantly skirting on them. Amy's skin turns completely black and her eyes turn blood red (similar to Roy's old Dark Form). The Darkness of Eternity also produces black, formless wings instead of a shield.

"K-katayoku no Tenma…" Amy stuttered. "Roy… you're…"

"I'm?" I asked. "I'm what?"

"You're too much!" Amy laughed. "Beyond the Limits…"

"Want to see what real power can do?" I asked, giving her a two-fingered 'bring it on' taunt.

"Fine!" Amy shouted, rushing at me. I seemed to be able to see all her moves before she made them… dodging them was ridiculously easy. I knocked her back with the blunt edge of my sword.

"Are you even taking this seriously?" Amy asked, breathing a little heavily after her barrage.

"No. Why should I?" I asked. "You're all bark and no bite."

"Yeah? Then I'll let you make the next move," she said. I got into the same calming pose I had used against Sora, then teleported above her. I came down with an unbelievably powered vertical slash, but was blocked by Amy's katana and sakaboto. She knocked me up into the air, then gave pursuit. We attacked and defended several dozen times in the air, then fell back to the ground. We dashed at each other, our speed rending the earth beneath our feet and our blades clashing with a massive shockwave that crumbled more pillars.

"Those eyes…" I said, staring deep into her hate-filled eyes. "They're like my eyes were…"

"Likewise," Amy said, looking deep into my eyes… and maybe my heart… maybe even my soul. "Those eyes are…"

We jumped back, getting back into our ready stances. I calmed myself again, closing my eyes. I opened them slowly again, but Amy hadn't made a move.

"That power… it's dangerous for you, isn't it?" I asked.

"No more dangerous than your power is," Amy said, flinching slightly.

"Come on," I taunted. She charged at me, intending to impale me. I dodged the blow, then turned for a spin slash. She blocked the blow, then proceeded to jump back and attempt to cut my shoulder. I grabbed her katana instead of dodging it, feeling my warm blood running down the cold steel. I looked down.

"You… Katayoku no Tenma…" she said, seething. "You're too strong…"

"Shut up, Akuma," I said, looking up and breaking her katana with my grasp. She jumped back, then threw aside her broken sword. I held my hand in the same position for a moment before letting my arm down, blood still dripping from my palm. I clenched my bleeding hand into a fist.

"Katayoku no Tenma… no, Roy Hartmut! Why can't I beat you?" the Akuma asked, clearly frustrated.

"… because… I'm fighting for what's right!" I shouted, flaring out a bit of power.

"What is right? I thought you threw away such 'childish concepts,'" the Akuma teased me.

"When you're fighting against someone who desires the destruction of all that exists," I told her, "you have to believe in something! And seeing as how I can't believe in the light or the darkness, I have only one thing to believe in: myself!"

"And I believe in love!" the Akuma shouted at me.

"Love? That's… funny…" I said. "You're not one for love."

"But I… I love you. AND YOU NEVER RETURNED MY LOVE!" the Akuma shouted, blazing at me with all her strength. This was the last move; I could see this was the endgame.

I dodged her final move, then knocked her into the air with my own sword. I forcefully separated Gaia's Edge into its six component blades, then performed a six-bladed version of my old Grand Cross maneuver. I followed that up with my Grand Trine attack after recombining my blades. Instead of dropping back to the ground, I stayed in the air, gathering energy at the tip of my sword.

Even after all that punishment, the Akuma still got up, though she was barely able to stand and was staggering. She slowly looked at me, painful hate… painful love in her eyes.

"Why do you hate me?" Amy asked, barely surfacing through her new Akuma personality.

"Even now, you still don't realize it!" I shouted, completing the energy ball I dived down at the Akuma almost instantly, leaving her with these words as my blade pinned her to the ground:

"I always loved you!"

My blade pinned the Akuma to the ground, leaving her writhing. I turned around and walked away from her, snapping my fingers with my head hung. The explosion rocked the throne room, crumbling any structure that was still standing. I was halfway to the door I had come through when I heard Amy say something… I was surprised she was still alive.

**NEW **Technique!  
Roy: Judgment Crest – a blending of all of Roy's older finishers, this is a technique that can only be performed as the One-Winged Demon (as it requires enough strength to split Gaia's Edge, a strength no other form possesses).

I turned around to see Amy, halfway Akuma. Half of her skin was black, but it was irregular… not like normal Dark Forms. Only one of her eyes was red…

"Katayoku no Tenma… as long as you exist, so will I. As long as I exist, so will you. We are each other's light and darkness…" Amy said just before she faded away in a large cloud of black smoke.

"Yeah, I know…" I said, dropping all the power I had gained. I turned around to go back to the door I had come in, but stopped short. I felt an ominous presence behind me… the Darkness had not yet faded…

I turned around yet again to see the Darkness of Eternity taking the shape of a human. I stood defiantly, despite being exhausted beyond description. Just as I was about to charge face first into my death, I heard Sora and Riku's voices…


	37. 34: Darkness Absolute

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Darkness Absolute**

"Roy! You okay?" Sora asked, running up to me.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I snapped back, still staring at the incarnation of Darkness that stood before us.

"That's… the darkness, isn't it?" Riku asked, now looking at the Darkness of Eternity.

"Yeah…" I managed, then felt like I was about to faint. I managed to hang on, using my sword to steady myself.

"Roy! You need to rest!" Sora shouted. "We'll finish this once and for all!"

"No!" I yelled back. "This is my story! It's time to choose if I want to die and be free of pain or live and face my sorrow!"

"Roy…" Sora began.

"He's right, Sora! Now is the time for him to shape his story! His fate is in his hands!" Riku said.

"Fine…" Sora submitted. Then I heard something in my mind… a voice, melodic and beautiful, but wicked and cruel…

_I am the Darkness. The Light shall fade… all life eradicated. Kneel before me!_

A great gust of darkness blew forth at us, causing the boulders I had left in my wake to fly away, leaving a very craggy and crater-filled arena. I nearly fainted again, but held steady through sheer force of will. Sora soon transformed into his Final Form, while I stood steady with Gaia's Edge and Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn.

"You guys…" I muttered. "This is it! Our last fight together!"

"Right!" Sora and Riku said in unison. We charged at the Darkness of Eternity, only to be stopped dead in our tracks by coils of darkness that rose out of the ground and bound our feet. Sora managed to break free after a few seconds, striking the Darkness with two stabs. He seemed to be having a lot of difficulty getting his Keyblades out, though, before he was blasted back by a great ball of darkness.

"It's… too strong…" Sora said, breathing heavily. "Even at full strength, my attacks did almost nothing!"

"So hit harder!" Riku yelled, snapping free from the darkness. He then joined Sora in attacking the Darkness of Eternity. _I feel so helpless_, I thought. _Here I am, standing around, while my friends are fighting to correct my mistakes!_

_I won't let my story end this way!_ I thought, closing my eyes and concentrating. _I refuse to let my story end this way! I refuse to let anybody else die or fall to the darkness!_

Then I felt it… that immense, otherworldly power of the form I had used against the Akuma. I felt myself blast through my True and Aether Forms, then opened my eyes to see the Limits of Power shatter around me._ This power… it's so much stronger than before,_ I thought. _I feel it!_

The coils of darkness dissolved around my feet, leaving me free to dash at the Darkness, which of course, I did. In less than a second, I had cut the Darkness in two. I further blasted it with an energy wave that all but disintegrated the Darkness.

"Whoa… Roy! You're…" Sora began, clearly in awe.

"There'll be time for chitchat later. Now, I have to end this chapter of my story," I said. "I still have a job to do."

"R-right…" Sora said, looking forward. By now, the Darkness had reformed itself. We all stood in our ready stances.

"Let's take it!" I shouted, charging forward with Sora and Riku at my side. We clashed it at the same time, but Sora and Riku's Keyblades were pushed back. Only my sword made it through. We were all pushed back an instant later, though I held my ground better than either Sora or Riku.

_This Darkness… it's at the Limits of Power_, I thought. _There's only one way to beat it…_

The Darkness proceeded to attack me, its only threat. Like before, I could see all of its moves before it made them, making all the dodges simplistic and easy. This thing wasn't going to tire like the Akuma, so I blasted it with an energy wave, then went back to Sora and Riku for a moment's reprieve.

"Guys… get out of here," I said.

"Why?" Riku asked, clearly impatient.

"There's only one move I know that can finish this… and you guys might get killed if you're here when I finish it," I replied. "So get out of here! It's for your own safety."

"All right," Sora said, teleporting with Riku over to the door we had entered through. "Just don't die on us!" He then dragged Riku through the door, closing it along the way. I turned around to see that the Darkness had reformed itself again.

"I'm getting tired of you!" I shouted at it, flaring out a little bit of power. "Now I'll end this!"

If you think you possess strength enough, then try…

I blazed at it, knocking it up in the air. I then performed my Judgment Crest technique, but instead of saying words of love, I shouted "JUDGMENT CREST!" at the top of my lungs, and didn't hesitate to throw my sword through the Darkness. I snapped my fingers seconds after landing, completely disintegrating the Darkness of Eternity and extinguishing it… at least for now.

Not seconds after that, I lost my Ultimate Form. I was totally exhausted… and absolutely fainted from fatigue…


	38. 35: Journey's End

**Chatper Thirty-Five: Journey's End**

I wasn't sure how long I was out… maybe hours, maybe days. Regardless, when I finally came to, I was being supported by Sora and Riku. They were supporting me, walking along with me despite some difficulty. I fell over after I woke up, but stood up soon afterwards.

"Hey! You're finally awake. Have a nice nap?" Sora asked me as I dusted myself off. I noticed we were in the crystal cliffs around the Radiant Garden.

"Sorry… breaking the Limits of Power has its repercussions," I said, still a bit weary. "So what happened next?"

"See for yourself," Sora said, pointing to someplace off of the cliff. I walked slowly to the edge, and looked down upon a vast plain. A large, craggy rock stood off in the distance.

"That's… Pride Rock, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah. We've… restored the worlds," Riku answered.

"So this is the world in its true form… this is the way it's all meant to be, not infected by darkness," I said, gasping in awe. I turned around swiftly to see not only Sora and Riku, but also Kairi and Serenity.

"We… we did it! Everything's fine," I said. "We saved everybody, we saved everything…"

"Yeah. We can all go rest now, if you want," Riku said, motioning toward the Radiant Garden's Castle, which was just over the horizon.

"I'd like… nothing more. And I'm sure they wouldn't, either," I said, motioning toward the girls. "I'd… like to sleep in a bed."

"Then let's go," Sora said. We began our silent walk… the walk of heroes. Even though I didn't truly deserve to be called a hero, for a few moments, I felt like one. I'd saved… no, restored the worlds and saved the damsels in distress.

After we got to the castle, I didn't say a word to anybody. I just went up to the bedroom I had been sleeping in before, flumped myself down on the bed, and went to sleep. I got up at midnight to grab a snack, since I hadn't eaten in I don't know how long, then went back to sleep.

I had the weirdest dream that night… which is even weirder, considering I never remember my dreams. I was all the way in my Ultimate Form, dueling with the Akuma. Each time I killed her, though, she just kept coming back to life. It went on and on until I awoke in a cold sweat.

It was noon. I went out and stood on the balcony, realizing that, for now, at least, everything was at peace.


	39. Epilogue: The Fragile Peace

**Epilogue: The Fragile Peace**

"So, Roy, why did you dress up like Auron for your prom?" Sora asked. We were all seated at a grand table in the castle, enjoying a banquet in celebration of our victory. Everyone imaginable was seated there, save for three people.

"Why? Because I'm a frickin' badass," I answered, slamming my fist on the table. "Why go in a tux when everyone else is going to, ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"You're not that cool," Sora refuted, "you're not as cool as Auron was."

"I'm damn close, wouldn't you say, Jason?" I asked.

"Uh… sure!" Jason managed through a mouth full of cheddar biscuits. He and Serenity were seated side by side again, being… weird, like they always were. "These cheddar biscuits are delicious!"

"You and your cheddar biscuits…" I muttered, picking up some for myself. The time for eating was almost over, and I had barely touched any of the food. And seeing as the dance was next (and I had nobody to dance with), I decided to chow down on something.

A few minutes later, everyone was taking food back into the kitchen while a few other people set up lights and a disco ball. Pretty soon the entire room was awfully bright, with lights dancing around. As expected, everybody danced with their sweetheart, except me and Riku (since we don't have sweethearts). Instead, we stood against one of the many pillars that littered the room.

"So, we're still alone," I said to Riku, then sighed. "It seems that's our path."

"Yeah, I guess so," Riku said, then shrugged. "Oh, well."

"It's way hot in here…" I lied. "I'm going to go stand out on a balcony."

"Why do I care?" Riku muttered as I walked off. I was standing alone on the balcony, overlooking the world I had created. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the worlds splintered, but I figured I may as well enjoy it while I could.

But something Amy had said still echoed in the corners of my mind: We are each other's light and darkness. So long as you exist, so will I. So long as I exist, so will you…

I put such thoughts out of my mind. I knew she was still out there, somewhere, and that someday, sooner or later, I would have to deal with her. I didn't want to deal with her, though. She is… my light. But she's also my darkness…

"Either way, when the time comes, I'll deal with it," I said to myself. "I'm not sure if my story's over, but if it is, this is one crummy way to end it: _happily ever after_."

**THE END**

P.S.: Look out for the "super boss" gaiden chapters, coming soon!


	40. 18x: Seymour's Ambition

**Chapter 18x: Seymour's Ambition** _(takes place between Chapters 18 and 19; the current "party" is Roy, Jason, and Amy.)_

Hacking and slashing our way through the eerily silent Borough, we fought our way to the city walls, and even further to the Bailey. After slaying all the enemies there, we attempted to go down into the Courtyard, but were interrupted by three bright flashes of light. When the light faded, three fairies stood before us: Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.

"Go away, YRP! We don't have time for this now!" I yelled at them.

"But we didn't even introduce ourselves yet…" Rikku muttered. "You're so mean!" The three then attempted to disappear, but Jason yelled something.

"Hold! What do you want?" Jason asked.

"Oh, nothing. We're just following the biggest treasure hit we've ever found!" Rikku replied.

"Biggest treasure hit? Tell me more," Jason said, clearly enticed.

"We don't need treasure, dammit! We have a job to do!" I yelled at him.

"Hey, maybe we can pay off some of the Heartless and Nobodies to leave us alone! We'd need treasure to do that!" Jason argued. Amy and I both gave him stupid looks.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FLIPPIN' MIND!" Amy shouted at him. "Heartless and Nobodies are feral… well, most of them, anyway! They won't take bribes!"

"Yes, they would," Yuna told us. "Rikku here can bribe them!"

"See? We can make it easier by getting a little treasure!" Jason said. "Well, if we're getting the treasure, we'll split it 50/50 with you guys. How does that sound?"

"No way," Paine flat out refused. "We split it 60/40, at least."

"Totally not fair… we're risking our lives, and you guys get the majority?" Jason asked, incredulous. "Oh, well. So, what do we have to do?"

"Oh, not much… just take down a big meanie!" Rikku told us.

"What kind of… big 'meanie?'" I asked, quoting 'meanie' with my fingers.

"The worst kind…" Paine said dully. I think I had an idea of who they were talking about… it was him.

"Okay, guys. I'll help you," I agreed, to Jason and Amy's surprise, "on one condition."

"What's that?" Yuna asked.

"I do all the fighting. I don't want my friends getting hurt," I replied.

"Okay," Paine said, and pinned down Amy. Yuna and Rikku pinned down Jason.

"Roy! What the hell?" Jason shouted, flailing to get up.

"I said, I don't want you guys getting hurt. Now where is he?" I asked. "Where's…"

"He's just down there in the Courtyard," Yuna informed me. "Be careful!"

"Do I look like someone who's careful?" I asked.

"Uh… no… but be careful anyway!" Rikku said, then disappeared along with Paine, Yuna, Jason, and Amy.

"Whatever. I can handle a Black Mage," I said to myself. "Even if he is a master Black Mage…"

I began my solo walk down the cliffs surrounding the city walls until I came to the Courtyard. I walked slowly up to a certain blue-haired man who had his back turned to me. He was carrying a certain stave…

"So, you are the one the Gullwings hired to assassinate me," he said, back still turned. "Go back and tell them they'll have to do better."

"Believe what you will, but know the truth," I told him. "I'm the only one they need to kill you, Seymour."

At that utterance, Seymour turned around to face me. He was exactly like I remembered from Final Fantasy X… almost just like Auron. He snickered.

"A little child like you cannot defeat me," he taunted.

"Oh, really? I think you're underestimating me," I told him. "I know what you can do… what you've done. You… killed your own father."

"What of it?" Seymour asked. "He was affiliated with the light. I could not allow that."

"And why's that?" I asked. "The light is no better than the darkness we use. Yeah, I know you use the darkness."

"I do not use the darkness," Seymour told me. "I do not use the light either. I have no desire to be caught up in the eternal struggle between light and darkness."

"The… eternal struggle?" I asked, somewhat confused.

"Yes… light and darkness. The two will struggle endlessly, trying to achieve some measure of balance," Seymour explained. "They use all people as their pawns, making them suffer and prosper in an endl3ss cycle."

"And… you want to end that cycle," I said.

"Yes. I will destroy the worlds! I will save them!"

"Salvation through destruction… that's not truly salvation," I said. "It's because people struggle that they become stronger! It's because people struggle that they have courage!"

"If you dissent from my view, you will be given the honor of being the next to be sent unto oblivion," Seymour threatened.

"I'm not afraid of you. I know all your moves," I said.

"Oh, really?" he asked.

"Yeah. You like to throw around elemental magic and summon Anima," I said. "Nothing you can do could possibly surprise me. I, on the other hand, have an entire moveset you know nothing about. I'd say the advantage is mine."

"Then come and get me, if you can," Seymour said, blasting fire magic straight in front of me. I jumped back to dodge the next plume of fire. I then circled around him, intending to impale him in the side, but stalagmites of ice rose out of the ground to meet my feet. I jumped back twice, dodging both stalagmites. I then jumped over the stalagmites, attempting to cleave Seymour in two. I was struck down by lightning, then struck again after I fell on the ground.

I screamed in pain. I'd never been shocked seriously before, so…

"You… play dirty…" I gasped, staggering to my feet.

"You were naive, and you paid the price," he answered. I then noticed two jets of water pressurizing in front of him. I dashed to the side to dodge them, barely making it in time.

"Sorry," I said, breathing heavily. "I had forgotten the order of your techniques. But now that I remember, you're going down."

"Is that so?" Seymour asked, smirking. "Then come on." I noticed two fireballs primed to explode around me. Dashing outward, I jumped over the first ice stalagmite that arose to block my path, dashed around the second one, evaded the twin lighting bolts, and jumped over Seymour to evade the jets of water. I stood to his back for a moment, then turned around, thrusting my Buster Sword through his shoulder. I then backed off, a little bit of blood dripping off my sword.

"Come, Anima!" Seymour shouted, summoning Anima. That horrible beast… crying tears of blood. I truly felt sorry for it… her…

Seymour's mother…

"An aeon can't stop me. Watch this!" I said, ascending into my True Form. I then jumped up and cleaved off Anima's head just as she was about to use Pain, landing behind Seymour. I dashed and stuck him in the back, held it there for a few moments before pushing it farther in, spattering blood across the Courtyard. Seymour slumped over a few seconds later, and I subsequently dropped my True Form.

"That's that…" I muttered, running one of my hands through my hair to clean it of blood. I then went back to the Bailey where the Gullwings were waiting, with (surprisingly) Amy and Jason still pinned to the ground.

"The job's done. Now, where's our treasure?" I asked as they got off of Amy and Jason.

"Uh… we don't have it yet!" Rikku said cheerfully. "But we'll give you guys your share when we find it!" The trio then disappeared in flashes of light.

"What a waste of time…" I muttered to myself, sighing. "Well, we've still got a job to do. Let's get to it!"

**END CHAPTER 18x**


	41. 28xx: Starlit Battle With Seymour

**Chapter 28xx: Starlit Battle with Seymour (_takes place between Chapters 28x and 29; the current "party" is Roy_)**

I had begun walking into my room, ready to sleep in preparation for the long day ahead, when I saw three flashes of light out of the corner of my eye.

"What is it that you want, Gullwings?" I asked, not even needing to turn around to know who it was. "I have a long day ahead of me, and I need to rest. Se whatever it is you've got to say, make it quick."

"So sorry to interrupt you," Yuna began, "but we need you to finish your job."

"You don't have any sort of contract with me," I replied. "I did that job for you guys… our alliance is over now."

"Nu-uh! You didn't finish Seymour!" Rikku complained.

"What are you guys talking about…" I said, turning around. "Of course I finished him."

"No, you didn't," Yuna complained, as well. "Seymour's still alive."

"That can't be true… I killed him…" I said in disbelief.

"Well… he's not really alive," Yuna explained. "He's… unsent."

"So, now I'm contract killing unsents?" I asked. "The situations I get myself in can be pretty funny. Well, regardless of whether Seymour's alive or not, there's nothing I can do about it. Unsents aren't my specialty."

"Just weaken him, and I'll send him to Hades!" Yuna shouted.

"Fine," I sighed, seeing there was no way out of this. "I'll do what I can."

"Okay! Just walk around for a little while, and you're bound to run into him!" Rikku said with a wink as she, Yuna, and Paine disappeared.

"Guess I'd better get going…" I muttered, grabbing my sword while I walked out the door. I walked down and around, meandering through the entire town and battleground until I came to the Dark Depths. There Seymour stood with his back turned, staring into the starry ether. It seemed he was waiting for me.

"You're way more resilient than I thought, Seymour," I said, getting into an iaijutsu pose. "Why hang on so long? Is total annihilation that important to you?"

"Of course," Seymour said with a slight snicker, turning around. "I haven't forgotten about you."

"I sense… darkness within you," I said. "I thought you despised the light and the darkness?"

"Of course. But if I am to destroy something, I must learn how it works," he replied.

"Well, then, I suppose we ought to finish this," I said, upping into my True Form. "Get ready." I drew my sword and pointed it straight at Seymour's heart… er… where his heart should have been.

"Very well," Seymour sneered, floating into the air. "Your hope ends here! And your meaningless existence with it!"

Then he transformed into… Seymour Omnis.

"That's a bit much, isn't it?" I asked arrogantly before giving him a 'bring it on' taunt. "Come."

Witt that, four very large ice stalagmites rose out of the ground. I looked up to see Seymour preparing for his next spell… this time it was…

I ran up the stalagmites, narrowly dodging four bolts of lightning that rained down close behind me. I cut off one of his hard, gel-like hands, gracefully landing on the ground below.

"Looking for this?" I asked, waving his severed hand at him. "Want it back?"

"You… you…" he said with an odd distortion in his voice.

"Here, have it back," I said, tossing it into the air. I sliced it in half before Seymour could get it back. "Sorry about that… you know how people get sometimes…"

"I'll kill you!" Seymour shouted as the pyreflies from his old hand made a new one. This time he made four bullets of highly-pressurized water. I dodged all of them, save one, then dashed between the four pillars of fire that rose up around me.

"For your best form, I was expecting a little better," I taunted him. "My move."

I leaped into the air, dodging four sharp icicles that came my way, then masterfully cleaved off Seymour's head. I landed gracefully again, tossed aside the head, then leaped back into the air, dicing Seymour's body up. But then I…

"AAAGH!" I screamed as I was struck with four bolts of lightning in succession. While I was staggering, Seymour reformed himself.

"I need to stop underestimating you," Seymour sneered. "But when you take such obvious hits…"

"Sh-shut up! I'm not afraid of you!" I shouted, pointing my sword at him again. I cut his water bullets this time, and then slammed the ground to put out the following flares.

"Those eyes…" Seymour commented. "They're the same as _his _eyes… the eyes of a hero."

"I'm not a hero. I don't know how many times I have to tell people that," I said back. "Someone like me… someone who has killed and will kill again… isn't a hero."

"Then… let darkness take you!" Seymour shouted, pouring so much energy into a spell I could see it. A black sphere began to visualize around me…

"No! It can't be!" I shouted as the Ultima spell began. I'm not going to make it out, I thought. Unless…

I focused all my energy, jumping and blasting into my Aether Form simultaneously. I just barely managed to clear the blast. I used the force of the explosion under me to boost my jump, cleaving Seymour in two. He reformed as I landed gracefully once again. This time, however, Seymour reverted to his normal form.

"Yuna, now!" I called out. Yuna immediately appeared, wielding a miniature version of her Nirvana staff. She silently performed the Sending.

"So, even now, it is you two who will end me. But even so, the darkness will prevail," Seymour said as he faded away into pyreflies..

"Our contract's fulfilled. I need to get back so I can rest," I said, leaving Yuna with no other words. I leaped off back to my room, making it to the balcony in three jumps, then dropped my Aether Form. Oddly enough, Jason was waiting for me.

"What were you out doing?" he asked.

"Nothing important. Now get outta here! I need to sleep," I said with what force I could. I was physically and mentally tired… so…

"All right, all right. I'm leaving!" he said, turning off the lights as he left. I laid down in my plush bed, drifting almost immediately off to sleep. Before I could get to sleep, Seymour's last words echoed in my mind…

_Even so, the darkness will prevail…_

**END CHAPTER 28xx**


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